Set-Asides and Preferences
This archive displays posts tagged as relevant to fraud in government contracting set-aside and preference programs. You may also be interested in the following pages:
January 18, 2023
The owner of several construction companies has been ordered to pay $1.75 million and serve over 2 years in prison after being convicted of fraudulently obtaining over $240 million in government contracts set aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB). Michael Angelo Padron had recruited a service-disabled veteran to serve as the companies’ ostensible owner, but he and his business partners retained actual control of all financial and operational decisions, in violation of program rules set forth by the Small Business Administration (SBA). DOJSeptember 22, 2022
The operations manager for Zieson Construction Company has been sentenced to 8 years in prison, ordered to forfeit over $4.6 million in profits, and ordered to pay restitution of over $600,000 to the IRS and over $82,000 to the Missouri Department of Revenue for his role in a massive fraud scheme. Using an African American service-disabled veteran as the nominal owner of Zieson, Patrick Michael Dingle obtained approximately $335 million in federal construction contracts that were set aside for small businesses owned and operated by individuals fitting the nominal owner’s profile. In violation of program rules, however, Zieson was actually controlled by Dingle and his co-conspirators. Dingle also separately admitted to filing fraudulent business tax returns from 2013 to 2016. USAO WDMOAugust 2, 2022
VE Source LLC and its owners, Sherman Barton and Christopher Neary, as well as a related entity, Vertical Source LLC, have together agreed to pay nearly $8 million to resolve claims of violating the False Claims Act. VE Source had fraudulently obtained more than $16.5 million in contracts with the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) that were set aside for businesses owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, which it was not. USAO NJJune 2, 2022
Aerospace company Numet Machining Techniques, LLC and related entities have agreed to pay $5.2 million after voluntarily disclosing to the government that Numet, which had certified itself as a small business concern, had affiliations with other businesses that, the government alleged, made it ineligible for 22 small business set-aside contracts that it had been awarded during the relevant time period. USAO CTMay 13, 2022
Hensel Phelps Construction Company has agreed to pay $2.8 million to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act in connection with a federal subcontract designated for service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB). Under a 2011 contract with the General Services Administration to construct a building in Washington, D.C., Hensel Phelps was required to set aside subcontracts for SDVOSBs and other small businesses. According to qui tam plaintiff Fox Unlimited Enterprises, LLP, the company instead made arrangements with another large business to provide equipment and installation services, and used a SDVOSB in name only. USAO NDNY, USAO EDWATriMark 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 WAJanuary 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
