Archive

November 30, 2018

As part of an ongoing investigation into price fixing in the international freight forwarding industry, Roberto Dip and Jason Handal, executives in a Louisiana-based freight forwarding company, pleaded guilty to charges arising from a conspiracy between competitors to fix prices for freight forwarding services.   Dip and Handal also agreed to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.  DOJ

November 14, 2018

The United States and three South Korea-based companies, SK Energy Co. Ltd., GS Caltex Corporation, and Hanjin Transportation Co. Ltd., have reached an agreement to resolve criminal and civil claims arising from the defendants' alleged bid-rigging and price-fixing in contracts to supply fuel to U.S. military bases in South Korea.  As a result of this conduct, the Department of Defense paid substantially inflated prices for fuel supply services in South Korea. Defendants agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay a total of $236 million -- $82 million in criminal fines and $154 million for civil antitrust and False Claims Act violations related to the bid-rigging conspiracy.  The False Claims Act civil investigation resulted from a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  The settlement is part of an ongoing federal investigation into bid rigging, price fixing and other anticompetitive conduct targeting U.S. Department of Defense fuel supply contracts in South Korea; the defendants have agreed to cooperate with that investigation.  DOJ

November 8, 2018

The United States charged two South Korean nationals, Hyeong-won Lee and Dong-guel Lee, of defrauding the federal government in connection with two multimillion dollar construction contracts their employer, South Korea-based SK Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd., (SK), had with the U.S. Army. From 2008 to 2017, acting on behalf of SK, the two allegedly submitted fraudulent subcontracts that were based on millions of dollars of kickbacks that SK paid to a U.S. official in exchange for being awarded the contracts. While the fraud was being investigated, the two also took pains to disguise the kickbacks and fraud even further by ordering employees to burn boxes of evidence and persuading them not to testify. DOJ; USAO WDTN

October 26, 2018

A former U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs official, James King, pleaded guilty to demanding and receiving bribes from three for-profit schools, Atius Technology Institute, Eelon Training Academy, and School A, in exchange for enrolling disabled military veterans in those schools.  All three school owners sent King and other VA officials false information about the education being provided to veterans.  King facilitated over $2 million in improper payments from the VA using the veterans’ federal benefits. DOJ

October 18, 2018

A political consultant has plead guilty to illegally influencing the awarding of a Department of Energy contract to renovate part of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). The consultant, Derf Butler, was allegedly approached by a developer who paid him $15,000 in cash to locate other developers and convince them to submit higher bids in exchange for subcontractor work on the project. He then lied to federal investigators about having any sort of financial relationship with the developer, even though by then, he'd requested another $15,000 and was anticipating additional funds. At least one developer who submitted a sham bid, Anton Kalafati of B Side Inc., has also plead guilty for his role in the fraud. USAO NDCA

September 24, 2018

Azam Doost, the former owner of Equity Capital Mining LLC, which operated a marble mine in Afghanistan, was convicted for defrauding the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a U.S. government agency in a $15.8 million loan the company obtained from OPIC. Doost had represented that he had no affiliation with mine suppliers who were paid from the loan proceeds; in fact, he had financial relationships with several of the suppliers, and diverted OPIC funds paid to those suppliers for his own use.  DOJ  For information on later sentencing, see here.

August 6, 2018

Richard Olsen, the CFO of Mission Support Alliance LLC, a Department of Energy contractor, will pay $124,000 to resolve allegations that he received a $40,000 kickback from Lockheed Martin. According to the allegations, Mr. Olsen received the kickback in exchange for a Lockheed Martin subsidiary receiving a lucrative subcontract. Mission Support Alliance is a Lockheed Martin subsidiary as well. USAO Eastern District of Washington

July 16, 2018

An former airport contractor has plead guilty to paying over $5M in bribes and kickbacks to a field inspector at the Wayne Country Airport Authority in Wayne County, Michigan. According to the government’s allegations, William Pritula, paid the bribes in kickbacks in exchange for favorable treatment for his company, Pritula and Sons, in contracts for pavement repair and fire hydrant installation at Detroit’s airport. The inspector who received the bribes is a co-defendant in the action. USAO Eastern District of Michigan

November 28, 2017

Nebraska McAlpine, a former employee of a U.S. government contractor in Afghanistan, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for accepting over $250,000 in illegal kickbacks from an Afghan subcontractor in return for his assistance in obtaining subcontracts on U.S. government contracts.  DOJ

August 10, 2017

Virginia Beach-based contractor ADS Inc. and its subsidiaries agreed to pay $16 million to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by conspiring with and causing purported small businesses to submit false claims for payment in connection with fraudulently obtained small business contracts.  The settlement further resolves allegations that ADS engaged in improper bid rigging relating to certain of the fraudulently obtained contracts.  The settlement ranks as one of the largest recoveries involving alleged fraud in connection with small business contracting eligibility.  The purported small businesses affiliated with ADS include Mythics Inc., London Bridge Trading Co. Ltd., and MJL Enterprises LLC, which falsely claimed to be an eligible service-disabled veteran-owned company, and SEK Solutions LLC and Karda Systems LLC, both of which falsely claimed to qualify as socially or economically disadvantaged businesses under the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Ameliorate Partners LLP.  It will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $2.9 million.  DOJ