357.040 - Liability for damages and civil penalty for certain acts.
357.040 Liability for damages and civil penalty for certain acts.
1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 357.050, a person who, with or without specific intent to defraud, does any of the following listed acts is liable to the State or a political subdivision, whichever is affected, for three times the amount of damages sustained by the State or political subdivision because of the act of that person, for the costs of a civil action brought to recover those damages and for a civil penalty of not less than $5,000 or more than $10,000 for each act:
(a) Knowingly presents or causes to be presented a false claim for payment or approval.
(b) Knowingly makes or uses, or causes to be made or used, a false record or statement to obtain payment or approval of a false claim.
(c) Conspires to defraud by obtaining allowance or payment of a false claim.
(d) Has possession, custody or control of public property or money and knowingly delivers or causes to be delivered to the State or a political subdivision less money or property than the amount for which the person receives a receipt.
(e) Is authorized to prepare or deliver a receipt for money or property to be used by the State or a political subdivision and knowingly prepares or delivers a receipt that falsely represents the money or property.
(f) Knowingly buys, or receives as security for an obligation, public property from a person who is not authorized to sell or pledge the property.
(g) Knowingly makes or uses, or causes to be made or used, a false record or statement to conceal, avoid or decrease an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the State or a political subdivision.
(h) Is a beneficiary of an inadvertent submission of a false claim and, after discovering the falsity of the claim, fails to disclose the falsity to the State or political subdivision within a reasonable time.
2. As used in this section, a person acts “knowingly” with respect to information if he or she:
(a) Has knowledge of the information;
(b) Acts in deliberate ignorance of whether the information is true or false; or
(c) Acts in reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the information.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 824; A 2007, 2398)