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Perpetual Tolling for Fraud Against the United States?

By Joshua S. Levy and David J. D'Addio
January 28, 2009

The Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act (“WSLA”) was, until recently, a seldom-invoked World War II-era law designed to toll the statute of limitations for frauds committed against the United States while the nation was “at war.” Initially drafted in the wake of World War I, at a time when Congress formally declared wars and society fully mobilized in support of a war effort, the law had been largely ignored for decades. But last fall, Congress breathed new life into the old law, amending it to apply to the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as any future military engagements expressly authorized by Congress.

The impact of these amendments will be significant for the defense of any clients who regularly do business with the government. The WSLA adds years of exposure to criminal prosecutions that would have otherwise been time-barred. It affects the limitations periods for all types of financial and property-related frauds against the United States ' criminal and perhaps civil False Claims Act cases, health care fraud offenses, and frauds involving federal loans or loan guarantees, to name just a few.

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