Government Contracts MonitorFalse Claims and False StatementsFederal Money for Lobbying -- Another False Certification False Claims Act CaseNovember 13, 2012 Last week the United States intervened in a False Claims Act lawsuit against Fluor Corporation. The case, filed by a whistleblower – a former Fluor employee – is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, United States ex rel. Rambo v. Fluor Hanford, LLC , No. CV-11-5037 (E.D. Wash. filed Feb. 23, 2011). The False Claims Act authorizes private parties… Afghanistan Contractors Gone WildNovember 5, 2012 In March of this year two Whistleblowers filed a complaint against their employer, Jorge Scientific Corporation (Jorge), a company that received almost a billion dollars in federal contracts for covert operations performed in the Middle East, including the Army’s “Legacy” projects in Kabul and Qandahar Province – projects intended to help Afghanis provide their own security. According to… Sixth Circuit Rejects FCA Liability for Technical ViolationsOctober 25, 2012 The Sixth Circuit recently announced an important limitation on False Claims Act (“FCA”) liability by holding that “irrespective of whether the [defendant] in fact violated the regulations, [t]he False Claims Act is not a vehicle to police technical compliance with complex federal regulations.” United States v. Renal Care Group, Inc., No. 11-5779 (6th Cir. Oct. 5, 2012). The case involved… Two Government Contractors Get to “Kickback” in Prison for Accepting $1 Million from a SubcontractorOctober 23, 2012 Clearing munitions in Iraq and keeping them out of enemy hands is very challenging work. The Project Manager and Deputy Project Manager of an international government contractor made that work even more challenging by taking kickbacks from a subcontractor. The Parsons Company, an international construction and engineering firm, had a contract with the Army Corps of Engineers Coalition… Those Certified Payroll Reports From Subcontractors Really Are ImportantOctober 18, 2012 A general contractor constructing buildings at Fort Campbell, KY learned the hard way in United States of America ex rel. Wall v. Circle C Construction, LLC, No. 10-5645 (6th Cir. Oct. 1, 2012) that certified payrolls are important for itself and all of its subcontractors. Failure to comply with the Davis Bacon Act resulted in a seven figure False Claims Act judgment against the prime… Mother Always Said You Shouldn’t Lie -- Especially About Being A Service-Disabled Veteran to Get Government ContractsOctober 11, 2012 Employment of veterans returning from service is of critical importance to our country and our economy -- those who serve our country should be afforded every opportunity to succeed in business when they return from service. Unfortunately, a recent federal criminal case in New York shows that fraud knows no bounds, highlights some serious government procurement integrity issues at the Department… Cornell University Loses False Claim Act Case Involving Federal Research GrantsSeptember 21, 2012 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently issued an important decision concerning (1) how to compute damages under the False Claims Act against grant recipients; (2) materiality of allegedly false claims; and (3) whether federal agency inaction after receipt of allegations of False Claims Act violations is “relevant.” The case, United States of America ex rel. Daniel… Federal Employees are “People” Too Under the False Claims Act – Your Investigator May Also be Your RelatorAugust 27, 2012 A federal appeals court recently asked: “Is a federal employee, even one whose job it is to investigate fraud, a ‘person’ under the False Claims Act such that he may maintain a qui tam action?” The case, See Little v. Shell Exploration & Production Company, No. 11-20320 (5th Cir. 2012), answered the question with a “yes,” holding that two government auditors whose job it was to… Conviction In Chinese Ammunition Case is Upheld on AppealJuly 23, 2012 On June 27, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the convictions and four-year prison sentence of Ralph Merrill, an investor in AEY and a munitions dealer based in Miami Beach, Florida. Merrill was charged with concealing from the government that the millions of rounds of ammunition AEY sold pursuant to a $298 million dollar Army contract were actually… The Affordable Care Act’s “Hidden” Enforcement InitiativesJuly 20, 2012 With all the media focus on the Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA”) regarding the individual mandate provision and the political impact of the recent Supreme Court ruling upholding the law on the November elections, a significant portion of the law has gone virtually without discussion – the enhanced enforcement tools in the ACA which will impact the health care industry for many years. The ACA provides… “Most Favored” Pricing to the Government Means Just ThatJuly 13, 2012 On June 26, 2012, New York-based General Services Administration (“GSA”) contractor Ward Diesel Filter Systems agreed to pay $628,000 to resolve False Claims Act lawsuit. The company, which manufactured filtering systems for diesel engines on fire trucks, allegedly overcharged the government by failing to provide it with “most favored” customer status. The settlement arose from a lawsuit, … SBA Reaffirms Size Is Determined Based on the Latest Three Fiscal Years and May Consider A Later-Filed Tax Return.May 3, 2012 The U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) size regulations provide that the size of a business concern that has been in business for three or more years is based upon the average annual receipts (“AAR”) of such concern for its three most recently completed fiscal years as of the date of the concern’s self-certification. 13 C.F.R § 121.104(c)(1). The size regulations clarify that… |
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