We previously wrote about the adverse inference permitted by the court in United States ex rel. Scutellaro v. Capitol Supply, 2017 WL 1422364 (D.D.C. Apr. 19, 2017). That inference allowed the whistleblower and the government to prove the falsity element of their claims against a supplier of office products to various federal agencies based [...]
Earlier this year, the D.C. District Court denied cross-motions for summary judgment in a False Claims Act (“FCA”) case alleging that defendant Capitol Supply sold document shredders manufactured in China through the General Services Administration (“GSA”) website, in violation of the Trade Agreements Act (“TAA”). United States ex rel. Scutellaro v. Capitol Supply, 2017 [...]
In Part I of this blog series, we identified various government programs that are often the target of fraud. In this blog post, we will examine the types of fraud that are committed against these programs, as well as recent case examples of fraud. Types of Fraud Cases alleging violations of the various preference [...]
For decades now, the federal government has had various programs in place to provide preferences to businesses owned by groups to which the government wants to provide special opportunities. We wrote about this in a previous post and write now to expand on and update that post. In Part I of this blog series, [...]
In a two-part Executive Order (“EO”) issued earlier this month, the president took steps towards his campaign promise to promote “Buy American” and “Hire American” policies. This post focuses only on the “Buy” side of the EO. Any tightening of Buy American policies at the federal procurement level raises the potential for violations that [...]
By Susan Schneider Thomas “The Congress has established a number of statutory goals designed to help small businesses compete for Federal contracts. In addition to the goal of awarding at least 23 percent of all Federal prime contracting dollars to small businesses, the Congress also established Government-wide contracting goals for participation by small businesses [...]
Entering into a contract with the US Department of Defense naturally necessitates confidentiality, discretion, and, in some cases, top-level security clearances. Accordingly, government contracts generally contain clauses relating to employment practices the contractor must follow in order to protect national security and ensure that all workers on the project are qualified for the job. [...]
In one of the few False Claims Act cases to come out of South Dakota, two contractors related to the logging industry have agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle claims that they violated the terms of their agreement with the U.S. Forest Service and billed for the work nonetheless. The two contractors, Black [...]
In yet another case of defense contractor fraud, a company known as APL, Ltd. has agreed to pay $9.8 million to the federal government amid allegations of false billing. APL is a Scottsdale, Arizona-based subsidiary of Singapore’s Neptune Orient Lines Limited, a global shipping company engaged in the transcontinental transport of shipping containers. Details [...]
Arkansas-based One Bank & Trust, N.A. recently settled allegations against it for $4 million as the result of an ongoing fraud investigation surrounding misused government funds. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint stating that One Bank & Trust, under the direction of its late CEO Layton P. Stuart, unlawfully [...]
