Fracking False Claims Case Goes Bust for Whistleblowers: Court

Two whistleblowers failed to adequately allege that an Ohio political subdivision violated the False Claims Act by entering into “fracking” leases for oil and gas worth millions of dollars, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled.

Whistleblowers Leatra Harper and Steven Jansto didn’t show that the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District knew that once it signed the fracking leases it had an obligation to, but failed to, transfer property to the U.S. government, the three-judge panel concluded.

A complaint that shows no more than the mere possibility of misconduct on the district’s part is insufficient, the court said. ...