Government Procurement Fraud

September 15, 2020

In a resolution valued at $51.7 million, defense contracting firm QuantaDyn Corporation agreed to plead guilty and enter into a civil settlement to resolve claims and charges arising from its scheme to bribe an Air Force contracting official to provide procurement-sensitive information and steer government contracts for training simulators to the company.  The government contented that QuantaDyn’s bribery scheme caused a prime contractor to submit false invoices to the United States.  QuantaDyn will pay $37.8 million in restitution, a criminal penalty of $6.3 million, and forfeit $7.1 million; the company CEO and majority owner, William T. Dunn, Jr., will pay $500,000.  DOJ

September 10, 2020

Asphalt contractor Dave O’Mara Contractor, Inc. will pay $4.25 million to resolve claims that in performing and billing for repaving work that was funded in part by the Federal Highway Administration, they falsely represented that they were including steel slag in the asphalt mixture when they were not in fact doing so, increasing the chance that the roads would prematurely deteriorate. DOJ; USAO SD IN

August 31, 2020

CDM Smith Inc. and CDM Federal Programs Corporation paid $5.6 million to resolve charges that they violated the False Claims Act and Truth in Negotiations Act by submitting inaccurate cost and labor hour estimates and related certifications in connection with task orders on a federal contract to supply architect-engineering services to Navy bases.  The case was initiated by an unnamed whistleblower, who will receive a share of the recovery.  USAO ED VA

August 21, 2020

Fire protection services contractor Fiore Industries Inc. will pay $1.2 million to resolve claims that it violated the False Claims Act by overstating its workers’ compensation rates in submitting claims for work it preformed at NASA’s Ames Field Center, thereby overcharging the government.  Fiore’s stated workers compensation rates did not account for discounts it knew it would receive.  USAO ND Cal

Cell Phone Carriers - Procurement Fraud ($138.7 million)

Constantine Cannon represented a whistleblower in a series of state False Claims Act cases alleging the four major wireless carriers -- AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile -- overcharged the government by failing to provide services at the lowest cost available as required in their government contracts.  In September 2020, the carriers agreed to collectively pay $138.7 million to settle the matter, one of the largest state False Claims Act settlements ever.  Our client received a whistleblower award of roughly $55 million.  Read more -- LA Times, CBS, PR Newswire, CC.

July 20, 2020

Defense contractor iNovex Information Systems, Inc., will pay $1 million to resolve claims that it violated the FCA by overcharging the National Security Agency.  Defendant allegedly invoiced the NSA for services it claimed were provided by personnel who met contractually specified training and qualification requirements when, in fact, it knew that those employees did not meet all of the specialized qualifications.  USAO MD