AT&T has agreed to pay $3.5 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it knowingly overbilled the Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Fund, which reimburses service providers that offer phone service for hearing- and speech-impaired individuals through the FCC’s IP Relay program. The government alleged that, from December 2009 through December 2011, AT&T’s claims for reimbursement included as much as 80 percent ineligible calls, and that AT&T communication assistants commonly knew that a large percentage of these calls were from foreign countries that used the program to perpetrate fraud schemes.

The settlement stems from a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Constance Lyttle, a former AT&T employee, who will receive $525,000.

Read the entire press release, “AT&T Agrees to Settle Allegations Involving IP Relay Services Provided to Hearing- and Speech-Impaired Persons”