Any person who commits any of the following acts shall be liable to the City for three (3) times the amount of damages which the City sustains because of the act of that person; shall have committed a Class III offense and be subject to the fines set forth in subsection 1-109(3) of this Code; and shall be liable for attorneys' fees and costs for any civil action brought to recover such damages and penalties:
(1) Knowingly presents or causes to be presented to an officer or employee of the City a false claim for payment or approval by the City;
(2) Knowingly makes, uses or causes to be made or used a false record or statement to get a false claim paid or approved by the City;
(3) Conspires to defraud the City by getting a false claim allowed or paid by the City;
(4) Has possession, custody or control of property or money used or to be used by the City and, intending to defraud the City or willfully to conceal the property, delivers or causes to be delivered less property than the amount for which the person receives a certificate or receipt;
(5) Is authorized to make or deliver a document certifying receipt of property used or to be used by the City and, intending to defraud the City, makes or delivers the receipt without completely knowing that the information on the receipt is true;
(6) Knowingly buys or receives, as a pledge of an obligation or debt, public property from an officer or employee of the City knowing that such officer or employee lawfully may not sell or pledge the property; or
(7) Knowingly makes, uses or causes to be made or used a false record or statement to conceal, avoid or decrease an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the City.
The court may assess less than three (3) times the amount of damages sustained because of the act of such person if the court determines that the person has fully cooperated with any government investigation of the violation.