Archive

March 17, 2022

Reveal Global Consulting, LLC has agreed to pay $820,000 to resolve allegations of improperly billing the Defense Intelligence Agency. Per contract terms, Reveal was only supposed to bill for time and materials expended to fulfill contractual obligations; however, the firm allegedly continued to bill the standard amount even for months when fewer than promised employees were devoted to the contract. Additionally, Reveal allegedly submitted bills with inflated and misstated work by subcontractors, and bills for work by employees who had already left the company. USAO EDPA

Tagged in: Contract Non-Compliance, Defense Contract Fraud, FCA Federal,

March 14, 2022

Freight carriers YRC Freight Inc., Roadway Express Inc., and Yellow Transportation Inc. will pay $6.85 million to resolve government claims that they knowingly overcharged the Department of Defense on military freight shipments. Whistleblower James Hannum, a Yellow Transportation employee, filed a qui tam action alleging that the companies had a practice of re-weighing shipments and, when the reweighs showed an increase from the original weight, defendants charged DOD for these higher weights, but when the reweighs showed a decrease from the original weight, defendants allegedly concealed the lower weight and instead charged DOD for the original, inflated weights. Hannum will receive a whistleblower award of approximately $1.3 million. DOJ

Tagged in: Defense Contract Fraud, Falsifying Invoices, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

March 8, 2022

Comprehensive Health Services LLC (CHS), a Florida-based contractor that provides medical services at government facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan, has agreed to pay $930,000 to resolve claims under the False Claims Act. According to two separate qui tam cases filed in the Eastern District of New York, CHS falsely certified to the State Department and Air Force that it had complied with contractual cybersecurity requirements when, in fact, it had failed to to properly store patient medical records on a secure electronic medical record system, and had falsely represented that it used approved medical supplies when, in fact, it had relied on unapproved controlled substances from foreign sources. DOJ; USAO EDNY; USAO MDFL

Tagged in: Certifications, Contract Non-Compliance, Cybersecurity and Data Breaches, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud,

March 7, 2022

MOX Services LLC, formerly known as CV&I AREVA MOX Services LLC (MOX), has agreed to a $10 million settlement to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act. As the prime contractor for a federal facility in South Carolina, MOX was responsible for confirming receipt of materials from any subcontractors before presenting claims to the government. According to the DOJ, however, MOX knowingly sought reimbursement from the Department of Energy for millions of dollars of materials not received from one of its subcontractors, Wise Services Inc., and which it submitted to the DOE in exchange for kickbacks from Wise. DOJ

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud,

March 3, 2022

Multiple chemical companies agreed to pay a collective total of $11.7 million to resolve claims by state and local entities that from 1997 through at least 2011, they participated in a nationwide conspiracy to allocate territories and customers, unlawfully rig bids, and fix prices paid by government entities for the purchase of coagulant liquid aluminum sulfate, a chemical used in water treatment and purification. The defendants include General Chemical entities, GenTek, Inc., Chemtrade entities, GEO Specialty Chemicals, Inc., C&S Chemicals, Inc., USALCO, LLC, Delta Chemical Corporation, and American Securities, LLC. The Commonwealth of Virginia recovered $1.1 million in a whistleblower case initiated under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act by Lawrence McShane. VA

Tagged in: Bribery and Bid-Rigging, FCA State, Government Procurement Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

February 23, 2022

TriMark USA, LLC and related entities will pay $48.5 million to resolve claims brought in a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that they improperly manipulated federal contract set-asides for service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB) by enlisting small business to secure the contracts while TriMark actually performed all of the work and received most of the benefits of the federal contract. In addition, former TriMark executive Kimberley Rimsza has agreed to pay $100,000 to resolve claims against her. The whistleblower, Fox Unlimited Enterprises, LLP, will receive an award of $10.9 million. USAO ND NY; USAO ED WA

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud, Set-Asides and Preferences, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

February 11, 2022

Transportation company Academy Bus, LLC, together with related entities and individuals, will pay $20.5 million to resolve claims brought in a whistleblower lawsuit under New Jersey’s False Claims Act that the defendants defrauded New Jersey Transit, for whom defendants operated bus routes. Defendants were paid by NJ Transit based, in part, on miles and hours driven, with deductions for missed bus trips; they were alleged to have over-reported miles and hours driven, and underreported their missed bus trips to the state. The settlement also required Academy to implement specific compliance procedures. The whistleblower, former Academy employee Hector Peralta, will receive an award totaling $3.9 million. NJ

Tagged in: Certifications, Contract Non-Compliance, FCA State, Government Procurement Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

January 14, 2022

A former official with the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General who was accused of accepting bribes on a prime contract and defrauding the government has been sentenced to 7.5 years in prison. While overseeing a contract that allowed federal agencies in the DC area to order telecommunication services and equipment, Matthew LumHo solicited and received bribes from a co-conspirator, William S. Wilson, in exchange for steering business to Wilson’s company. Lumho also knowingly authorized fraudulent service orders for marked up services—essentially defrauding the government into paying for the bribes themselves—and repeatedly interfered with the criminal investigation. USAO EDVA

Tagged in: Bribery and Bid-Rigging, Criminal Proceedings,

January 12, 2022

Idaho-based Native American Services Corp. (NASCO) and Texas-based Mirador Enterprises, Inc. (Mirador) have agreed to pay $750,000 and $400,000 respectively, for a combined settlement of $1.15 million, to resolve allegations of fraudulently obtaining two construction contracts at Colorado’s Fort Carson Army installation. According to the DOJ, one contract was set aside for eligible economically and socially disadvantaged small businesses, and the other was set aside for eligible small businesses. Although Mirador was eligible for both contracts, it allowed its mentor NASCO to take on the primary role in the performance of the contracts; both companies then took steps to conceal the fraud. USAO CO

Tagged in: Contract Non-Compliance, Defense Contract Fraud, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud, Set-Asides and Preferences,

January 6, 2022

SoNo International LLC and Ark Capital Equipment LLC have agreed to pay $904,000 to resolve allegations of supplying the Department of Defense with shipping containers that were made in China or made of Chinese steel, in violation of contracts as well as the False Claims Act. As part of the settlement, the two companies will also submit to enhanced training and reporting requirements pursuant to an administrative agreement with the Defense Logistics Agency. An unnamed third-party company, which SoNo and Ark hired to change identifying plates on the shipping containers, has separately agreed to train employees on customs rules and regulations. USAO EDPA

Tagged in: Contract Non-Compliance, Defense Contract Fraud, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud, Trade Agreements,

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