The three-year period is designed to enlarge the time in which to bring a claim if a party does not learn of the fraud until years after the fraud was committed. It is not meant to curtail the period in which claims can be filed. Therefore, defendant’s counterclaim under 31 U.S.C. § 3731(b) is not barred by the three-year statute of limitations. 2. Initiating the Six-Year Period Under the Statute of Limitations The next issue to consider is when the statute of limitations began to r L.Ed.2d 663 (1993); United States v. Incorporated Village of Island Park, 888 F.Supp. 419, 441-42 (E.D.N.Y.1995) (same); United States ex rel. Hartigan v. Palumbo Bros., Inc., 797 F.Supp. 624, 629 (N.D.Ill.1992) (same); United States ex rel. Duvall v. Scott Aviation, 733 F.Supp. 159, 161 (W.D.N.Y.1990) (<HOLDING>); Blusal Meats, Inc. v. United States, 638
holding that payment does not moot a confirmation request holding that the term reverse payment is not limited to a cash payment holding that it was not essential to an action by a supplier on a payment bond under the miller act that a demand be made on the general contractor for payment  although there was evidence in the case from which it could be found that the materialman looked to the general contractor for payment  since the statute does not require a demand for payment but merely requires written notice of the claim holding that it is not holding it is the payment and not the request which triggers the statute