Oracle Damages in False Claims Case May Reach $1 Billion

Oracle Corp., the world’s second- biggest software maker, may face total damages of $1 billion in a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit claiming it overcharged the government, legal experts said.

Oracle induced the General Services Administration to buy $1.08 billion in software from 1998 to 2006 by falsely promising the same discounts offered to favored commercial customers, the U.S. claimed in a complaint filed July 29 in federal court in Alexandra, Virginia. Oracle instead gave companies discounts of as much as 92 percent, while the government’s cuts ranged from 25 to 40 percent, the U.S. said.