Korean Oil Companies - Procurement Fraud/Bid-Rigging ($363 million)

Constantine Cannon represented a whistleblower in a False Claims Act case alleging several Korean oil and transportation companies engaged in a bid-rigging scheme to artificially inflate the price the US military paid for fuel contracts for its bases in South Korea.  Ultimately, five different entities paid a total of $363 million: In November 2018, SK Energy, GS Caltex, and Hanjin Transportation agreed to pay $246 million to resolve both criminal and civil claims; and in March 2019, Hyundai Oilbank and S-Oil Corporation agreed to pay $127 million to resolve both criminal and civil claims.  The settlements represent the largest False Claims Act antitrust recovery ever.  Our client received a whistleblower award of roughly $37 million.  Read more — WSJ, Reuters, Stars and Stripes, DOJ, CC.

Tagged in: Bribery and Bid-Rigging, FCA Federal, Government Procurement Fraud, Whistleblower Rewards,