Government Contracts MonitorFalse Claims and False StatementsA Preference for U.S. Goods and Services: Buy American Receives A Booster ShotFebruary 24, 2019 On January 31, 2019 President Trump signed yet another Executive Order addressing Buy American issues: Buy American, Hire American [here]. This Order requires that federal agencies purchase U.S. goods and services in any and all infrastructure projects including, interestingly, cybersecurity projects. Among other things, this recent Order underscores the Trump Administration’s policy of enforcing… New Statute Extends Small Business Size Standard Reference Period to Five (from Three) Years, Enabling More Companies to Qualify as SmallJanuary 17, 2019 In December 2018 – just before Christmas – the Senate approved, and the President signed into law, the so-called “Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018,” Pub. L. No. 115-324 (the “Act” or “statute”). This statute extends the three-year reference period for calculating a revenue-based small business’s size status to five years. This Act was intended – as implied by its name – to extend the… New Year's Resolutions, 2019 - Reassess Your Size Status, Update Your SAM and DSBS Listings, Check Your Past Performance Ratings, and Update Your Employment Policies, Handbooks and PostingsJanuary 2, 2019 Happy New Year! The start of a new year is the time for New Year’s Resolutions. Here are several we strongly urge you to follow-through on early in 2019.
1. Reassess Your (and Any Subcontractors’) Small Business Size Status: Most companies operate on a calendar year for tax reporting purposes. For such companies the start of a new tax year, and the end of the prior year, means a change and… New Year's Resolutions, 2018January 3, 2018 Reassess Your Size Status, Update Your DSBS and SAM Listings, Check Your Past Performance Ratings, and Update Your Employment Policies, Handbooks and Postings Happy New Year! The start of a new year is the time for New Year’s Resolutions. Here are several we strongly urge you to follow-through on early in 2018. 1. Reassess Your (and Any Subcontractors’) Small Business Size Status: Most companies… Wrongdoing Doesn’t Pay - Civil Penalties, Including for False Claims Act Violations, Keep Going Up – 2017 Inflation AdjustmentsJanuary 16, 2017 Most federal civil monetary penalties will increase by an additional 1.636%, rounded to the nearest dollar, for new assessments issued after the effective date of each respective agency’s implementing regulations. This new increase is on top of last year’s huge, one-time, “catch-up” adjustments intended to offset inflation through October 2015, and is the first of what hereafter will be annual… <center>New Year’s Resolutions, 2017</center>January 3, 2017 Reassess Your Size Status, Update Your DSBS and SAM Listings, Check Your Past Performance Ratings, and Update Your Employment Policies, Handbooks and Postings Happy New Year! The start of a new year is a time for New Year’s Resolutions. Here are several we strongly urge you to follow-through on early in 2017. 1. Reassess Your (and Any Subcontractors’) Small Business Size Status: Most companies… Don’t Invoice the Government for What You Haven’t DoneNovember 29, 2016 Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had reached a settlement with Bechtel National Inc., Bechtel Corp., URS Corp. (predecessor in interest to AECOM Global II LLC) and URS Energy and Construction Inc. (now known as AECOM Energy and Construction Inc.). In the press release, DOJ announced that the contractors have agreed to pay $125 million to resolve allegations under the… Short Take: FCA Civil Penalties Adjusted Upward for InflationJuly 5, 2016 The US Department of Justice (DOJ) recently issued an interim final rule increasing the range of penalties for violations of the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §3729 et seq. (FCA). In accordance with the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, DOJ has adjusted for inflation the civil monetary penalties assesssed or enforced by DOJ components. As a result, the penalty range for FCA violations has changed from… Compliance Is a Contact Sport: Communicate with Your EmployeesApril 3, 2016 It’s one thing for a contractor to agree with the importance of compliance in theory, or even to establish a compliance program. But making sure that it actually works is something else entirely. A recently announced civil settlement serves as a reminder that the implementation of your compliance program is at least as important as creating it in the first place. And a key to that implementation… Sixth Circuit Rejects DOJ “Fairyland” Damages Theory, and Bases False Claims Act Damages on Actual Underpaid Davis-Bacon Act WagesFebruary 16, 2016 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently struck a ringing blow for common-sense, logic and reality in overturning a District Court’s $763,000 damages award in a case involving Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) wage underpayments of only $9,916. United States ex rel. Wall v. Circle C Construction, LLC, 6th Cir. Case No. 14-6150, decided Feb. 4, 2016. The Court flatly rejected what it… Short Take: Another Failed Scheme Alleging Work Performed By Minority Owned BusinessNovember 30, 2015 Last week Granite Construction, Inc. (Granite), a publically traded company, entered into a non-prosecution agreement under which it will pay more than $8 million to the federal government and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The agreement resolves a criminal investigation into a disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) fraud scheme perpetrated by Granite’s wholly-owned… Short Take: If The Government Joins In, The Stakes Get HigherNovember 24, 2015 The Department of Justice just announced that it has intervened in a lawsuit in which it is alleged that Inchcape Shipping Services Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries (Inchcape) violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by knowingly overbilling the U.S. Navy for ship husbanding services from 2005 to 2014. The lawsuit was brought under the whistleblower provisions of the FCA by former… |
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