DOJ Reports Decline in Total Fraud Recoveries in 2020, but Whistleblower Efforts and Rewards Continue
Posted 01/14/21
Government Procurement Fraud
This archive displays posts tagged as relevant to fraud in government contracting and procurement. You may also be interested in the following pages:
January 11, 2021
Defense contractor Raytheon Technologies Corporation and its subsidiary, Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation, have agreed to pay over $515,000 to settle allegations of submitting false claims for payment. Between 2006 and 2015, Raytheon and Hamilton improperly certified that goods it sold either directly to the government or to suppliers selling to the government were of domestic origin, when in fact they were manufactured in Romania. The false certifications violated the contracts’ domestic-preference requirements, the Buy American Act of 1933, and the False Claims Act. USAO CTTop Ten State Healthcare and Financial Fraud Recoveries of 2020
Posted 01/8/21
January 4, 2021
Georgia-based ready-mix concrete company Argos USA LLC entered into a settlement admitting that between 2010 and 2016 it conspired to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate the market for ready-mix concrete in Georgia and elsewhere. As part of a deferred prosecution agreement, Argos will pay a $20 million criminal penalty, institute a compliance program, and cooperate in ongoing investigations. The unlawful actions included coordinated issuance of price-increase letters, the allocation of specific ready-mix jobs in the coastal Georgia area, the imposition of fuel surcharges and environmental fees, and the submission of bids at collusive and noncompetitive prices. DOJDecember 31, 2020
Department of Veterans Affairs contractor TriWest Healthcare Alliance Corp. has agreed to pay $179.7 million to resolve allegations that it improperly retained overpayments received from the VA. TriWest administered portions of VA’s former Veterans Choice Program and its Patient-Centered Community Care Program (PC3), which enable veterans to obtain VA-paid healthcare from private providers. At times, VA allegedly paid TriWest twice for the same services, or paid for services for which TriWest received full or partial reimbursement from other healthcare providers, and TriWest failed to return those overpayments. DOJWANTED: A Corporate Crimebuster at the DOJ
Posted 12/23/20
December 21, 2020
Government contractor Schneider Electric Buildings Americas Inc. will pay a total of $11 million to resolve criminal and civil claims that it overcharged the government on eight separate energy savings performance contracts under which the company was to install energy upgrades including solar panels, LED lighting, and insulation, in federal buildings. The company admitted to wrongdoing including the disguising of unauthorized design costs by charging them to unrelated contract components and the receipt of kickbacks from subcontractors on the ESPCs. $9.3 million of the settlement resolves civil liability under the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Act; $1.7 million is denominated as criminal forfeiture. DOJDecember 16, 2020
Handicare USA, which manufactures and installs patient lift and mobility systems for healthcare facilities, agreed to pay $800,000 to resolve claims that it knowingly provided products to the Veterans Administration that failed to comply with the Trade Agreements Act. A whistleblower tipped the government that Handicare patient lifts installed at VA facilities used parts made in China for the mounting system that secured the patient lift to the ceiling, and took steps to conceal its non-compliance, including by instructing that the products should be installed so that the “Made in China” stamps on metal parts would not be visible. USAO DCCOVID Frauds of the Week: PPP, Puppies, and Securities Fraud
Posted 12/11/20
Whistleblower Rewards: Choose a Whistleblower Lawyer with a Record of Success for Top Whistleblower Awards
Posted 12/11/20
