Editor’s note: This is the first of two articles about North Carolina’s False Claims Act.

Since the passage of the North Carolina False Claims Act in 2009, which became effective Jan. 1, 2010, North Carolinians have had a powerful weapon to combat fraud against their tax dollars and to return these funds to the state coffers. At the time it was passed, North Carolina joined 25 other states and the District of Columbia by enacting its own False Claims Act.