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Page 7 of 45

January 5, 2022

A Kansas-based contractor who illegally obtained $346 million in contracts set aside for service-disabled veterans and certified minorities has been sentenced to a little over two years in prison and ordered to forfeit over $5.5 million.  Between 2009 and 2018, defendant Matthew McPherson was awarded approximately 199 federal contracts, upon which he was paid approximately $335 million, through Zieson Construction Company, which was nominally owned by an African-American service-disabled veteran.  When the company grew too large to compete for small business contracts, McPherson used an employee’s Native American minority status to set up Simcon Corp in order to obtain additional contracts.  USAO WDMO

December 23, 2021

Military housing provider Balfour Beatty Communities LLC will pay over $65 million and plead guilty to fraud charges arising from their scheme to secure incentive payments on contracts by submitting falsified information claiming to have met performance objectives when, in fact, they had not met those objectives.  BBC employees altered or manipulated data in property management software regarding property maintenance and destroyed and falsified resident comment cards.  The settlement agreement and plea agreement includes a $33.6 million criminal fine, over $31.8 million in restitution, and $35.2 million to resolve civil liability under the False Claims Act.  BBC will be on probation for three years and be subject to independent compliance monitoring.  DOJ; USAO SD GA; USAO WD OK

December 21, 2021

Information technology contractor Telophase Corporation will pay $1.4 million to resolve allegations that it overcharged NASA under a cost-plus fixed-fee contract.  The government alleged that Telophase submitted false claims for excessive labor hours and costs.  USAO Md

December 14, 2021

Michigan-based Metna Co., a research and development firm which had contracts with the U.S. Army, has agreed to pay $500,000 to resolve claims that in improperly concealed its use of foreign nationals on Army Small Business Innovation Research contracts.  The government alleged that Metna employed foreign graduate students on F-1 student visas, misrepresenting their work to their university and paying them substantially less than the hourly labor rate that Metna quoted to the Army in its contract budget proposals.  USAO WD MI

November 29, 2021

General contractor J.A. McDonald, Inc. has agreed to pay $637,500 to settle allegations of presenting false claims to the United States and State of Vermont in connection with the federally-funded construction of several bridges.  Employees at the company allegedly made material alterations, then took steps to conceal those alterations from the Vermont Agency of Transportation, which then caused the agency to submit false claims to the Federal Highway Administration.  USAO VT

October 21, 2021

Boulder, Colorado nonprofit The Center for Severe Weather Research paid $2.4 million to resolve allegations of fraud in federal grants received from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and NOAA.  CSWR was alleged to have improperly requested drawdowns from federal grants for expenses it had not incurred, and to have improperly retained interest accrued on federal funds received but not yet needed.  In addition, two CSWR principles, Ling Chan and Joshua Wurman, agreed to pay $203,776 to resolve allegations that they improperly obtained payments for ineligible expenses, including rental payment for CSWR offices in their personal residence.  USAO CO

October 19, 2021

JPay, a financial services company which, among other services, provides debit cards to prisoners to meet their essential needs as they are released from incarceration, will pay $6 million – $4 million in restitution and $2 million as a civil penalty – to resolve allegations that they violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act and Electronic Fund Transfer Act by charging consumers unlawful fees.  As part of the settlement, JPay is also limited in fees it can impose on release cards going forward.  CFPB

October 6, 2021

Defense contractor Crane Company has agreed to pay over $4.5 million to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act.  According to a former Crane employee, Corla Jacobson, the failures occurred between 2011 and 2017 and involved selling the U.S. Navy high performance butterfly valves that did not conform to military specifications.  For initiating a successful qui tam action, Jacobson will receive a relator’s share of over $850,000.  USAO SDTX

October 1, 2021

Pharmaceutical manufacturers Taro Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Sandoz Inc. and Apotex Corporation have agreed to pay a total of $447.2 million to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute arising from unlawful compensation received through arrangements on price, supply and allocation of customers with other pharmaceutical manufacturers of various generic drugs.  In connection with the FCA settlements, Taro will pay $213.2 million, Sandoz will pay $185 million, and Apotex will pay $49 million.  The civil settlements are in addition to previous deferred prosecution agreements resolving related criminal charges, pursuant to which Taro paid a criminal penalty of $205.6 million, Sandoz paid a criminal penalty of $195 million, and Apotex paid a criminal penalty of $24.1 million.  DOJ
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