On May 9, the Department of Justice (DOJ) published its Final Rule on the Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation Adjustment for 2022. This adjustment comes just five months after the last CMP Inflation Adjustment.
Under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the DOJ annually adjusts for inflation civil monetary penalties provided by law that are within the jurisdiction of the DOJ, with respect to violations occurring after November 2, 2015. Under the 2022 adjustment, the minimum False Claims Act (FCA) penalty assessed per violation occurring after May 9, 2022, will be not less than $12,537 and not more than $25,076. This per violation statutory penalty is in addition to the statutory penalty of three times the amount of damages which the government sustains because of the violation. 31 U.S.C. 3729(a)(1). The below chart shows the increase in penalties due to inflation from 2018 to 2022.