Government Procurement Fraud

November 14, 2018

The United States and three South Korea-based companies, SK Energy Co. Ltd., GS Caltex Corporation, and Hanjin Transportation Co. Ltd., have reached an agreement to resolve criminal and civil claims arising from the defendants' alleged bid-rigging and price-fixing in contracts to supply fuel to U.S. military bases in South Korea.  As a result of this conduct, the Department of Defense paid substantially inflated prices for fuel supply services in South Korea. Defendants agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay a total of $236 million -- $82 million in criminal fines and $154 million for civil antitrust and False Claims Act violations related to the bid-rigging conspiracy.  The False Claims Act civil investigation resulted from a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  The settlement is part of an ongoing federal investigation into bid rigging, price fixing and other anticompetitive conduct targeting U.S. Department of Defense fuel supply contracts in South Korea; the defendants have agreed to cooperate with that investigation.  DOJ

November 8, 2018

The United States charged two South Korean nationals, Hyeong-won Lee and Dong-guel Lee, of defrauding the federal government in connection with two multimillion dollar construction contracts their employer, South Korea-based SK Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd., (SK), had with the U.S. Army. From 2008 to 2017, acting on behalf of SK, the two allegedly submitted fraudulent subcontracts that were based on millions of dollars of kickbacks that SK paid to a U.S. official in exchange for being awarded the contracts. While the fraud was being investigated, the two also took pains to disguise the kickbacks and fraud even further by ordering employees to burn boxes of evidence and persuading them not to testify. DOJ; USAO WDTN

November 5, 2018

The owner of WOW Imaging Products LLC and Time Enterprises LLC pled guilty to defrauding government agencies of approximately $3.5 million over the course of six years. Beginning in 2011, Jim A. Meron allegedly profited substantially from office products his companies sold to federal agencies through sales portals run by the General Services Administration (GSA) and Department of Defense (DoD). Although Meron’s government clients placed orders for premium products, he often sent products that cost a fraction of what they paid, pocketing the difference in price. In addition to forfeiting $1.7 million in assets, Meron now faces a maximum of 20 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines; his sentencing is scheduled for February 2019. USAO EDCA

October 12, 2018

Michael Martin, the owner of a New York-based general contractor called Eastern Building & Restoration, Inc. has plead guilty to a multitude of charges, including fraudulently obtaining public works contracts, withholding over $400,00 in wages from over 50 employees, and stealing over $150,000 each from a minority-owned business and an insurance company. According to the Attorney General, Martin and co-defendant Dr. Scott Henzel, also of Eastern Building and Restoration, took control of two minority-owned businesses in order to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars worth of contracts intended for minority-owned businesses. Furthermore, they underpaid laborers working on public works projects and created false documentation and certifications stating otherwise. Separately, Martin also embezzled over $150,000 from one of the businesses and caused a false insurance claim to be filed on its behalf. He will be sentenced in both Albany and Schenectady counties in early December.  NY AG

October 5, 2018

Contractor Martin Enterprises, Inc. and its surety Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company have agreed to pay $61,016 to settle claims under the False Claims Act that Martin falsely claimed payment for work under the federal Blight Elimination Program, which is funded by the Troubled Asset Relief Program.  Martin had been required to fill excavation sites in Ft. Wayne, Indiana with clean fill, but instead filled them with construction debris.  USAO N.D. In.