Justice Joins Whistle-Blower in Oracle Suit for Overcharging

The Department of Justice has joined a whistle-blower who says that Oracle, the business software company, has defrauded the federal government of massive sums of money by overcharging for its software. In the civil suit filed in federal court last week, it was alleged that Oracle failed to give the government the same discounts it gave to other commercial customers. The amounts overcharged are in the hundreds of millions of dollars and the case may reach above a billion. Paul Frascella, a former Oracle employee lodged a complaint against Oracle in 2007 and the government joined his False Claims Action last week with a separate filing. If successful he may be entitled to up to 25% of what the government recovers in the case.The government could receive up to three times the damages it incurred.