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United States ex rel Bahrani v. ConAgra, Inc.

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Before BRISCOE, Chief Judge, BALDOCK, and TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judges.

Plaintiff Ali Bahrani filed this action under the reverse false claims provision of the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(7), alleging that defendants ConAgra, Inc., ConAgra Hide Division, ConAgra Beef Company, and Monfort, Inc. (collectively ConAgra or defendants) altered thousands of beef and hide export certificates issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), rather than obtaining replacement certificates, in order to avoid paying the fees charged by the USDA for replacement certificates. The district court initially granted summary judgment in favor of defendants, but this court, in U.S. ex rel. Bahrani v. Conagra, Inc., 465 F.3d 1189 (10th Cir. 2006) (Bahrani I), reversed and remanded for further proceedings. On remand, a jury found that Bahrani was not an “original source” for his meat export certificate claims. A separate jury found in Bahrani’s favor on only five of the hide export certificates at issue and awarded him actual damages of $107.50. The district court subsequently trebled the actual damages and imposed statutory penalties of $5,500 per claim, as required by the FCA, resulting in a total judgment of $27,822.50 in favor of Bahrani. Following the entry of judgment, Bahrani moved for an award of attorney fees, expenses and costs in the amount of $3,449,469.10. The district court, pursuant to a magistrate judge’s recommendation, awarded Bahrani $9,274.16 in fees, expenses and costs.

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