A form of publication which tends to cause one to lose the esteem of the community is defamation. This is injury to reputation. A person can be held liable for the defamation of another. In order to prove defamation, the plaintiff must prove:
- that a statement was made about the plaintiff's reputation, honesty or integrity that is not true;
- publication to a third party (i.e., another person hears or reads the statement); and
- the plaintiff suffers damages as a result of the statement.
Slander is a form of defamation that consists of making false oral statements about a person which would damage that person's reputation. If one spreads a rumor that his neighbor has been in jail and this is not true, the person making such false statements could be held liable for slander.
Defamation which occurs by written statements is known as libel. Libel also may result from a picture or visual representation. Truth is an absolute defense to slander or libel.
Some statements, while libelous or slanderous, are absolutely privileged in the sense that the statements can be made without fear of a lawsuit for slander. The best example is statements made in a court of law. An untrue statement made about a person in court which damages that person's reputation will generally not cause liability to the speaker as far as slander is concerned. However, if the statement is untrue, the person making it may be liable for criminal perjury.
If a communication is made in good faith on a subject in which the party communicating it has a legitimate right or interest in communicating it, this communication may be exempt from slander liability due to a qualified privileged.
The following form letter demands that someone cease making libelous or slanderous statements, or appropriate legal action will be taken.
False Statements Meaning In Virginia
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The Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayer Act (“VFATA”) makes it unlawful for any person to: (1) knowingly present, or cause to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval; (2) knowingly make, use, or cause to be made or used, a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim; (3) ...
Any person who knowingly makes any false statement, representation or certification in any application, record, report, plan, or other document filed or required to be maintained under this title shall upon conviction be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000, or by imprisonment for not more than six months or by ...
It shall be unlawful for any person (i) to knowingly give a false report as to the commission of any crime to any law-enforcement official with intent to mislead; (ii) to knowingly, with the intent to mislead a law-enforcement agency, cause another to give a false report to any law-enforcement official by publicly ...
The False Claims Act (FCA) is intentionally broad. The Supreme Court has described it as “intended to reach all types of fraud, without qualification, that might result in financial loss to the government.” So, a claim is “false” if the government pays more or receives less than it would based on the truth.
The Commonwealth of Virginia has a state version of the False Claims Act, called the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, which permits individuals to file qui tam lawsuits on behalf of the commonwealth and obtain a reward for funds recovered.
False pre·tens·es. -ˈpre-ˌten-səz, -pri-ˈten- : false representations concerning past or present facts that are made with the intent to defraud another. also : the crime of obtaining title to another's property by false pretenses compare larceny by trick at larceny, theft.
