§ 8.01-216.9.Procedure; statute of limitations.

Section 8.01-216.9 gathers several procedural rules that apply across actions under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act. A subpoena requiring a witness to attend a trial or hearing held under the article may be served anywhere in the Commonwealth, without the county or city limits that can otherwise constrain service. The limitations period for a civil action under § 8.01-216.4 or § 8.01-216.5 runs six years from the date of the violation, or three years from when the responsible Commonwealth official knew or reasonably should have known the material facts, whichever comes later — but never more than ten years after the violation itself.

When the Commonwealth intervenes in an action a private plaintiff filed under § 8.01-216.5, it may file its own complaint or amend the plaintiff’s complaint to clarify existing claims or add new ones the Commonwealth believes it is entitled to pursue. A Commonwealth complaint filed this way relates back to the date the private plaintiff originally filed, so long as the Commonwealth’s claim arises from the same conduct, transactions, or occurrences already set out or attempted to be set out in that original complaint.

In any action under § 8.01-216.4 or § 8.01-216.5, the Commonwealth must prove every essential element of the claim, including damages, by a preponderance of the evidence. And where a criminal proceeding charging fraud or false statements ends in a final judgment favoring the Commonwealth — whether by verdict, guilty plea, or plea of nolo contendere — that judgment estops the defendant from denying the essential elements of the offense in a later civil action under § 8.01-216.4 or § 8.01-216.5 involving the same transaction.