(LEGAFI) -- The federal government has intervened in a whistleblower lawsuit that accuses a New Orleans construction company of creating fake inspection forms of FEMA trailers to cash in on a $28 million FEMA contract it received after Hurricane Katrina.

A former employee alleges in the whistleblower lawsuit that Jacquet Construction Services, LLC and its owner, Carter Jacquet, violated the False Claims Act by instructing employees to create thousands of fake inspection forms so FEMA would pay for work they hadn’t performed. Carter Jacquet is alleged to have even offered bonuses to employees who forged the most forms.

Jacquet Construction Serves was awarded the FEMA contract for maintaining trailers occupied by victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“The Department of Justice is committed to recovering taxpayer money from unscrupulous contractors that take money that they didn’t earn,” U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said in a statement.

The False Claims Act allows individuals to sue on the government’s behalf if they know a company is defrauding the government. Under qui tam provisions of the FCA, whistleblowers can receive between 15 to 25 percent of any funds recovered through the lawsuit.