Government Procurement Fraud

May 13, 2019

Silicon Valley-based software company Informatica LLC will pay $21.57 million to resolve allegations that it provided false information about its commercial pricing and discounting practices that was then used in negotiations for Multiple Award Schedule contracts with the General Services Administration.  In addition, Informatica was alleged to have caused sales to the U.S. in violation of the Trade Agreements Act. The whistleblower, a former employee of Informatica, will receive $4.3 million from the settlement.  DOJ

May 1, 2019

Michael S. Flynn of Bridgeport, Connecticut, pleaded guilty to charges arising from his role in rigging bids on contracts to install insulation at construction projects for universities, hospitals, and other public and private entities in Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts.  Flynn owned and ran an insulation contractor, an conspired with competitors to fix prices and submit bids that inflated customer costs by at least 10%, costing victims more than $45 million in total.  Flynn faces up to 30 years in prison.  DOJ

May 1, 2019

An Alaska Native Corporation that qualified for the Small Business Administration’s set aside contracts has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a whistleblower’s allegations that it paid kickbacks to obtain said contracts.  According to a qui tam complaint by Susann Campbell, Kikiktagruk Inupiat Corporation (KIC), and its subsidiary, KIC Development LLC (KICD), paid bribes to a contract employee with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers in order to obtain preferential treatment and confidential government information to ensure it won a construction contract at the military’s Ft. Bliss installation in Texas.  USAO WDTX

April 23, 2019

Oregon-based aluminum supplier Hydro Extrusion Portland, Inc., formerly known as Sapa Profiles Inc., together with its parent company, has agreed to pay $47 million to settle criminal mail fraud charges and civil claims alleging that between 1996 and 2015, the company altered the results of tensile tests measuring the consistency and reliability of extruded aluminum, and falsified certifications about products meeting testing requirements and contract specifications. Among the customers who received products that defendants knew did not meet contract specifications were NASA and the Dept. of Defense Missile Defense Agency.  The $47 million total settlement payment consists of forfeiture of $1.8 million, $34.1 million in criminal restitution to NASA, DOD, and commercial customers – $23.6 million of which is also credited to resolve civil claims under the False Claims Act – and an additional $11 million in payments to resolve civil FCA claims.  Defendant entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and has been  suspended as a U.S. government contractor.  DOJ; USAO EDVA

April 22, 2019

Three Michigan construction firms will pay $466,500 to resolve claims of bid rigging and fraudulent billing for renovation work performed at Amtrak stations for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation.   Tooles Contracting Group, LLC, Commercial Contracting Corporation, and G&B Electric, Inc., along with G&B's president James Gierlach, were alleged to have unlawfully shared bid information and inflated invoices and time records.  USAO ED MI