Government Procurement Fraud

February 9, 2018

Maryland announced the State has reached a settlement with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), a State contractor to the Maryland Department of Health (MDH), to resolve litigation between CSC and the State. CSC will pay the State $81 million. The settlement resolves disputes stemming from a major IT contract entered into between MDH and CSC. The contract, called the Medicaid Enterprise Restructuring Project (MERP), required CSC to develop and implement a new computer system for the State Medical Assistance Program, or Medicaid. Once the new system was established, CSC would also help operate the system. The computer system is responsible for administration of the State Medicaid program, including the processing of approximately $10 billion paid out to Medicaid providers each year. MD

January 11, 2018

California announced a $102 million settlement with BP Energy Company and affiliates (BP) over allegations that it intentionally overcharged the State of California for natural gas that the State purchased under three successive contracts from March 2003 to August 2012. The contracts allowed the California Department of General Services, which buys natural gas for numerous state agencies and political subdivisions, to cap the price it would pay BP for specific volumes of gas. BP regularly quoted and charged the State of California prices that violated this cap and concealed its overpricing by providing false and misleading information. These acts constitute violations of the California False Claims Act. CA

November 14, 2017

Ohio-based Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. and New Jersey-based Progressive Garden State Insurance Co., part of the Progressive Group of Insurance Companies, one of the nation’s largest auto insurance providers, agreed to pay more than $2 million to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act by causing Medicare and Medicaid to pay for claims for which the companies were responsible. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. The whistleblower will receive an award of more than $600,000 from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ (DNJ)