US sues disgraced cyclist Armstrong for sponsor money
the suit triggered its unsealing.
"I had come to a point in my life where I decided that I had to tell the truth for the sake of my conscience," Landis, who also admitted to cheating, said in a statement on Friday released by his lawyer.
WHISTLEBLOWER LAW
Armstrong faces other suits arising out of his admission of cheating. This month, marketing firm SCA Promotions Inc alleged in a Texas state court that the cyclist defrauded it of $12.1 million in bonuses plus interest.
In January, two California men sued Armstrong and his book publishers, claiming that his memoirs were filled with lies but were billed as non-fiction.
The U.S. government is suing under the False Claims Act, an 1863 law that encourages private individuals to file suit when they have evidence of fraud involving government money.
When the government believes a suit has merit, it may take over the litigation. The individuals, or whistleblowers, get a portion of the proceeds if the case is successful.
The government joins 20 to 25 percent of all False Claims Act suits filed, and the government almost always wins the cases it joins, said John Phillips, who represents whistleblowers at the Phillips & Cohen law firm.
"That's a very good sign for the case: that the government after its own investigation, after looking at all the facts and the law, has decided to join the case," said Phillips, who is not involved in the Armstrong case.
Since the law was revitalized in 1986, it has been used frequently against military contractors, pharmaceutical
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