NEW ORLEANS AP – The U.S. Department of Justice is weighing whether to intervene in a lawsuit that accuses insurance companies of overbilling the federal government for flood damage from Hurricane Katrina, a judge who unsealed the case on Monday said.

A team of lawyers filed the so-called “whistleblower” suit in April 2006 on behalf of two sisters who worked for a company that helped State Farm Insurance Co. adjust policyholder claims on the Mississippi Gulf Coast after the August 2005 storm.