United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit _____________________________________

August Term 2022

(Argued: April 21, 2023 Decided: January 23, 2025)

No. 22-1854

_____________________________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA EX REL. RALPH BILLINGTON, MICHAEL ACEVES, AND SHARON DORMAN,

Plaintiffs-Appellants,

— v. —

HCL TECHNOLOGIES LTD. AND HCL AMERICA, INC.,

Defendants-Appellees. _____________________________________ Before: WALKER, PARKER, and BIANCO, Circuit Judges

Plaintiffs-Relators Ralph Billington, Michael Aceves, and Sharon Dorman (collectively, “relators”) filed this qui tam action against Defendants-Appellees HCL Technologies Ltd. and HCL America, Inc. (together, “HCL”), alleging that HCL defrauded the United States when they applied for and secured visas for foreign employees, primarily citizens from India, to work in the United States and thereby avoided paying higher salaries to American citizens. In their Fourth Amended Complaint, relators assert, inter alia, that this alleged fraudulent scheme violated the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq. (“FCA”), by: (1) avoiding or decreasing an obligation to pay the government tax revenues when it underpaid

1 its H-1B visa workers, and (2) avoiding or decreasing an obligation to pay the government visa application fees when it applied for less expensive visas for workers who required the more expensive H-1B visas. The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Merriam, Judge) dismissed all of relators’ claims, concluding, inter alia, that relators could not demonstrate that HCL avoided or decreased any established obligation to pay money to the United States, as required for a “reverse FCA claim” under 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(G). Specifically, the district court concluded that there was no established obligation for HCL to pay federal payroll taxes on wages higher than those HCL actually paid their H-1B employees because HCL never paid any wages that supported such taxes. Additionally, it concluded that there was no obligation for HCL to pay the government a more expensive H-1B visa application fee when it submitted applications for B-1 and L-1 visas for certain employees. We agree with the district court that relators failed to state a plausible claim that HCL decreased or avoided an established obligation to pay money to the United States in the form of higher taxes or the higher visa application fees. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the district court’s judgment.

DANIEL KOTCHEN, Kotchen & Low LLP, Washington, District of Columbia, for Plaintiffs/Relators- Appellants.

DAVID L. SCHENBERG, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., St. Louis, Missouri, for Defendants-Appellees. JOSEPH F. BIANCO, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiffs-Relators Ralph Billington, Michael Aceves, and Sharon Dorman (collectively, “relators”) filed this qui tam action against Defendants-Appellees HCL Technologies Ltd. and HCL America, Inc. (collectively, “HCL”), alleging that HCL defrauded the United States when they applied for and secured visas for

2 foreign employees, primarily citizens from India, to work in the United States