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:
TriMark Settlement Highlights Fraud in Set-Aside Programs
Posted 03/1/22
February 23, 2022
TriMark USA, LLC and related entities will pay $48.5 million to resolve claims brought in a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that they improperly manipulated federal contract set-asides for service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB) by enlisting small business to secure the contracts while TriMark actually performed all of the work and received most of the benefits of the federal contract. In addition, former TriMark executive Kimberley Rimsza has agreed to pay $100,000 to resolve claims against her. The whistleblower, Fox Unlimited Enterprises, LLP, will receive an award of $10.9 million. USAO ND NY; USAO ED WAFebruary 11, 2022
Transportation company Academy Bus, LLC, together with related entities and individuals, will pay $20.5 million to resolve claims brought in a whistleblower lawsuit under New Jersey’s False Claims Act that the defendants defrauded New Jersey Transit, for whom defendants operated bus routes. Defendants were paid by NJ Transit based, in part, on miles and hours driven, with deductions for missed bus trips; they were alleged to have over-reported miles and hours driven, and underreported their missed bus trips to the state. The settlement also required Academy to implement specific compliance procedures. The whistleblower, former Academy employee Hector Peralta, will receive an award totaling $3.9 million. NJDOJ Announces $5.7 Billion in FCA Recoveries in Fiscal Year 2021, with Boost from Purdue Settlement Claim
Posted 02/2/22
January 12, 2022
Idaho-based Native American Services Corp. (NASCO) and Texas-based Mirador Enterprises, Inc. (Mirador) have agreed to pay $750,000 and $400,000 respectively, for a combined settlement of $1.15 million, to resolve allegations of fraudulently obtaining two construction contracts at Colorado’s Fort Carson Army installation. According to the DOJ, one contract was set aside for eligible economically and socially disadvantaged small businesses, and the other was set aside for eligible small businesses. Although Mirador was eligible for both contracts, it allowed its mentor NASCO to take on the primary role in the performance of the contracts; both companies then took steps to conceal the fraud. USAO COTop Ten Non-Healthcare False Claims Act Recoveries of 2021
Posted 01/7/22
January 6, 2022
SoNo International LLC and Ark Capital Equipment LLC have agreed to pay $904,000 to resolve allegations of supplying the Department of Defense with shipping containers that were made in China or made of Chinese steel, in violation of contracts as well as the False Claims Act. As part of the settlement, the two companies will also submit to enhanced training and reporting requirements pursuant to an administrative agreement with the Defense Logistics Agency. An unnamed third-party company, which SoNo and Ark hired to change identifying plates on the shipping containers, has separately agreed to train employees on customs rules and regulations. USAO EDPAJanuary 5, 2022
A Kansas-based contractor who illegally obtained $346 million in contracts set aside for service-disabled veterans and certified minorities has been sentenced to a little over two years in prison and ordered to forfeit over $5.5 million. Between 2009 and 2018, defendant Matthew McPherson was awarded approximately 199 federal contracts, upon which he was paid approximately $335 million, through Zieson Construction Company, which was nominally owned by an African-American service-disabled veteran. When the company grew too large to compete for small business contracts, McPherson used an employee’s Native American minority status to set up Simcon Corp in order to obtain additional contracts. USAO WDMOCatch of the Week: Privatized Military Housing Contractor Pays Over $65 Million to Resolve Criminal and False Claims Act Allegations
Posted 12/23/21
