Archive

December 9, 2013

Northrop Grumman paid $11.4M to resolve False Claims Act allegations stemming from its failure to abide by a 2002 settlement agreement with the Defense Contract Management Agency. The government alleged that Northrop charged to its federal contracts certain costs for deferred compensation awards to key employees, even though it had promised not to do so as part of the earlier 2002 settlement. DOJ

November 19, 2013

FreshPoint Inc. agreed to pay $4M to resolve allegations that it overcharged the Department of Defense for fresh fruit and vegetables purchased under 15 separate contracts. The allegations were first raised in a qui tam lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. DOJ

November 7, 2013

Iraqi Consultants and Construction Bureau paid $2.7M to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by bribing a U.S. government official to obtain U.S. government contracts in Iraq. DOJ

September 16, 2013

The Macalan Group Inc., f/k/a NEK Advanced Securities Inc. agreed to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims in connection with a contract with the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization. NEK’s contract with JIEDDO required it to develop and deploy teams of specialized personnel to Iraq and Afghanistan to combat improvised explosive devices. DOJ

August 29, 2013

Conax Florida Corp. agreed to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that the company submitted false claims to the government for improperly tested inertia reels and non-conforming voltage references. Inertia reels are part of a system designed to secure aircrew members in the event of a crash. Voltage references are electronic parts used in water-activated parachute releases. Both devices are used by the U.S. military and NASA. The allegations were first raised in a qui tam lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. DOJ

August 28, 2013

RPM International Inc. and its subsidiary, Tremco Inc. paid $61M to resolve allegations that Tremco filed false claims in connection with two multiple award schedule contracts with the General Services Administration for roofing supplies and services. The allegations were first raised in a qui tam lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. DOJ

November 3, 2015

In a consent judgment, Hess Corporation has agreed to pay $4.4 million over allegations that it illegally obtained reimbursements from a Massachusetts state fund for environmental cleanup projects at dozens of gasoline service stations throughout the state. The complaint alleged that Hess submitted reimbursement applications to the Massachusetts Underground Storage Tank Petroleum Product Cleanup Fund program (UST Fund) with false certifications in that they failed to disclose the companies’ insurance claims, and therefore were not in compliance with applicable regulations. MA

November 3, 2015

A construction company, D’Allessandro Corp., has agreed to pay $190,000 and conduct trainings to resolve allegations it falsely certified compliance with equal opportunity requirements on multiple public construction contracts in Massachusetts. MA

October 21, 2015

14 states, as well as the District of Columbia and the cities of Chicago and New York, reached a $4 million settlement with UPS, resolving allegations brought by a whistleblower that that certain UPS employees recorded inaccurate delivery times on packages sent by governmental customers through next-day delivery services, resulting in premium-priced packages that appeared to have been delivered by their guaranteed commitment times when they had not been timely delivered. The lawsuit also alleged that certain UPS employees applied inapplicable or inappropriate exception codes to excuse late next-day packages, including claims of weather emergencies despite sunny conditions. As a result, the governmental customers were unable to claim or receive refunds for the late deliveries under the terms of their contracts. FL; IL; NY; MA; NM; VA

October 21, 2015

United Parcel Service has agreed to pay $4 million to resolve allegations that the company violated the false claims acts of 14 states, New York City, Washington D.C., and Chicago.  Under contracts at issue between UPS and the government, UPS guaranteed delivery of packages by certain specified times the following day. The investigation began after a UPS employee filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit in Virginia alleging that a practice of falsifying package arrival times and logging in phony reasons for late arrivals went on company-wide. The UPS employee alleged that, in some cases, bogus exception codes excusing late deliveries were entered into the tracking system before UPS drivers had even arrived at locations where cumbersome security procedures and other delays had purportedly occurred. The state settlement follows an earlier $25 million settlement with the federal government.  NJ; NY