|
| | 10000HB1685ham001 | - 2 - | LRB100 03379 HEP 24126 a |
|
|
1 | | (b) If the State's Attorney or Attorney General does not |
2 | | proceed with an
action
brought
by a person under Section 15, |
3 | | that person shall receive an amount that the
court decides is
|
4 | | reasonable for collecting the civil penalty and damages. |
5 | | Subject to subsection
(d), the amount
shall not be less than |
6 | | 40% of the proceeds of the action or settlement, and
shall be |
7 | | paid from the
proceeds.
|
8 | | (c) If the person bringing the action as a result of a |
9 | | violation of this Act
has paid money
to the defendant or to an |
10 | | attorney acting on behalf of the defendant in the
underlying |
11 | | claim, then
he or she shall be entitled to up to double the |
12 | | amount paid to the defendant or
the attorney if that
amount is |
13 | | greater than 50% of the proceeds.
|
14 | | (d) Where the action is one that the court finds to be |
15 | | based primarily on
disclosures of
specific information, other |
16 | | than information provided by the person bringing
the action |
17 | | under
Section 15, relating to allegations or transactions in a |
18 | | criminal, civil, or
administrative hearing, in
a legislative or |
19 | | administrative report, hearing, audit, or investigation, or
|
20 | | from the news media, the
court may award those sums that it |
21 | | considers appropriate, but in no case more
than 10% of the
|
22 | | proceeds, taking into account the significance of the |
23 | | information and the role
of the person
bringing the action in |
24 | | advancing the case to litigation.
|
25 | | (e) Any payment to a person under subsection (a), (b), (c), |
26 | | or (d) shall be
made from the
proceeds. The person shall also |
|
| | 10000HB1685ham001 | - 3 - | LRB100 03379 HEP 24126 a |
|
|
1 | | receive an amount for reasonable expenses that
the court finds |
2 | | to
have been necessarily incurred, plus reasonable attorney's |
3 | | fees and costs. All
of those expenses,
fees, and costs shall be |
4 | | awarded against the defendant.
|
5 | | (f) If a local State's Attorney has proceeded with an |
6 | | action under this Act,
the Treasurer
of the County where the |
7 | | action was brought shall receive an amount for
reasonable |
8 | | expenses that
the court finds to have been necessarily incurred |
9 | | by the State's Attorney,
including reasonable
attorney's fees |
10 | | and costs, plus 50% of the funds not awarded to a private
|
11 | | party. Those amounts
shall be used to investigate and prosecute |
12 | | insurance fraud, augmenting existing
budgets rather
than |
13 | | replacing them. All remaining funds shall go to the State and |
14 | | be deposited
in the General
Revenue Fund and, when |
15 | | appropriated, shall be allocated to appropriate State
agencies |
16 | | for
enhanced insurance fraud investigation, prosecution, and |
17 | | prevention efforts.
|
18 | | (g) If the Attorney General has proceeded with an action |
19 | | under this Act, all
funds not
awarded to a private party, shall |
20 | | go to the State and be deposited in the
General Revenue Fund
|
21 | | and, when appropriated, shall be allocated to appropriate State |
22 | | agencies for
enhanced insurance
fraud investigation, |
23 | | prosecution, and prevention efforts.
|
24 | | (h) If neither a local State's Attorney or the Attorney |
25 | | General has
proceeded
with an
action under this Act, 50% of the |
26 | | funds not awarded to a private party shall be
deposited with |
|
| | 10000HB1685ham001 | - 4 - | LRB100 03379 HEP 24126 a |
|
|
1 | | the
Treasurer of the County where the action was brought and |
2 | | shall be disbursed to
the State's
Attorney of the County where |
3 | | the action was brought. Those funds shall be used
by the |
4 | | State's
Attorney solely to investigate, prosecute, and prevent |
5 | | crime insurance fraud ,
augmenting existing
budgets rather than |
6 | | replacing them. All remaining funds shall go to the State
and |
7 | | be deposited in
the General Revenue Fund and, when |
8 | | appropriated, shall be allocated to
appropriate State
agencies |
9 | | for enhanced crime insurance fraud investigation, prosecution, |
10 | | and
prevention efforts.
|
11 | | (i) Whether or not the State's Attorney or Attorney General |
12 | | proceeds with
the
action, if
the court finds that the action |
13 | | was brought by a person who planned and
initiated the violation |
14 | | of
this Act, that person shall be dismissed from the civil |
15 | | action and shall not
receive any share of
the proceeds of the |
16 | | action. The dismissal shall not prejudice the right of the
|
17 | | State's Attorney or
Attorney General to continue the action on |
18 | | behalf of the State.
|
19 | | (j) If the State's Attorney or Attorney General does not |
20 | | proceed with the
action, and the
person bringing the action |
21 | | conducts the action, the court may award to the
defendant its
|
22 | | reasonable attorney's fees and expenses if the defendant |
23 | | prevails in the action
and the court finds
that the claim of |
24 | | the person bringing the action was clearly frivolous, clearly
|
25 | | vexatious, or
brought primarily for purposes of harassment.
|
26 | | (Source: P.A. 92-233, eff. 1-1-02.)".
|