Texas-based companies Varidesk, LLC and Vari Sales Corporation (both doing business as VARI) will pay $1,100,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by overcharging the General Services Administration (GSA) on their contracts from Dec. 8, 2016, through June 30, 2019. ĚýThe settlement resolves allegations that VARI knowingly failed to give the government matching price discounts that were offered to other customers, as required by their contract with the government.

Specifically, VARI had entered a Multiple Award Schedule contract with GSA, enabling federal government purchasers to buy office furniture at discounted prices. This required VARI’s compliance with “basis of award” discounts. VARI’s failure to offer price-matching discounts and refunds caused false or fraudulent claims to be submitted for payment to GSA.

This case was brought by a whistleblower under the qui tam, or whistleblower provision, of the False Claims Act. Whistleblowers can receive up to 30% of the government’s recovery. The whistleblower, or relator, former VARI sales executive Elliot Balis, will receive $187,000.

91pornpartner Alysia Solow commented: “The False Claims Act is a crucial tool in the fight against government contracting fraud. This case is an example of how the False Claims Act is used to protect taxpayer dollars by holding companies who do not comply with government contract provisions accountable.”

Acting United States Attorney Patrick D. Robbins said: “Companies must deal honestly with federal agencies and comply fully with the requirements of their federal contracts.”

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Read Furniture Supplier VARI Will Pay $1.1M to Settle False Claims Allegations For Overcharging Federal Agencies at constantinecannon.com

Booz Allen closed out 2024 by agreeing to pay $15,875,000 to allegations that one of its subsidiaries, Booz Allen Hamilton Engineering Services LLC (BES), violated the False Claims Act by engaging misconduct in connection with the government’s procurement process.

The FCA centered around BES claims for payment related to a “General Service Administration (GSA) task order to supply computer military training simulators and systems to Department of Defense (DoD) agencies, including the Air Force.”Ěý The government two BES employees (John Hancock and Karen Paulsen) “engaged in a fraudulent course of conduct” with an Air Force contracting official (Keith Seguin) and with a manager of BES subcontractor QuantaDyn Corp. (David Bolduc Jr.), resulting in GSA awarding BES a task order and BES awarding task order modules to subcontractor QuantaDyn on sole-source basis.

In particular, as to BES employees Hancock and Paulsen influencing GSA to award the task order to BES, the government that Air Force contracting official Seguin “improperly and illegally divulged confidential government contracting and budget information, a competitor’s confidential bid or proposal information, and source selection information to Hancock and Paulsen,” who then “used the illicit information to prepare the GSA offer evaluation forms” for BES and for BES’s only competitor.

The government further that after GSA awarded the task order to BES, BES employees Hancock and Paulsen, Air Force contracting official Seguin, and QuantaDyn manager Bolduc used “confidential government budget information to formulate and submit price quotes to GSA for the individual modules that BES sole-sourced to QuantaDyn,” resulting in 37 task order modules BES awarded to QuantaDyn on a sole-source basis.

In addition to this civil settlement, the DOJ also that “Hancock, Paulsen, Seguin and Bolduc previously resolved criminal charges related to this conduct.”

This is the latest in a long line of False Claims Act cases and settlements relating to the government procurement process.Ěý Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division remarked: “Government contractors that improperly receive confidential government information during the procurement process corrupt the integrity of that process. This settlement demonstrates our continuing commitment to protecting the integrity of the government’s procurement process.”Ěý Indeed, the DOJ established the to root out antitrust violations and related schemes in the government procurement process.

This is not Booz Allen’s only recent FCA settlement.Ěý In 2023, Booz Allen agreed to pay the United States $377 millionĚýto settle charges that it billed the government for costs unrelated to its government contracts.

If you have any information aboutĚýgovernment contract or procurement fraud, or would like to learnĚýwhat it means to be a whistleblower, please don’t hesitate toĚýcontactĚýus.ĚýWe will connect you with an experienced member of ourĚýwhistleblower team.

Read Booz Allen Pays $15.875M to Settle False Claims Act, Procurement Allegations at constantinecannon.com

Gen Digital Inc. (formerly Symantec Corp.) knowingly overcharged the General Services Administration. Now the company is required to pay a hefty judgment after a decade of False Claims Act litigation.

Located in Tempe, Arizona, Gen Digital Inc. $55.1 million. The company is required to shell out $16.1 million in damages and $36.8 million in civil penalties, in addition to post-judgment interest and costs.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said: “The department will hold accountable contractors that knowingly overcharge the United States to enrich themselves. The years spent litigating this case and taking it to trial demonstrate the department’s steadfast commitment to protecting taxpayer funds.”

After a four-week bench trial in February and March 2022, the trial court found Symantec liable for making knowing false claims to the United States. It misrepresented its commercial sales practices during the negotiation and subsequent performance of a General Services Administration (GSA) contract. The court determined that Symantec made false statements to GSA during contract negotiations in 2006 and early-2007. The company continued to falsely certify during the contract’s performance through September 30, 2012, that its disclosures of commercial sales practices were complete, accurate, and current. The false disclosures caused GSA to accept and continue to pay higher prices than it would have if it knew about Symantec’s real commercial pricing practices.

The court also determined that Symantec repeatedly violated the Price Reduction Clause, a standard term in Multiple Award Schedule contracts. This clause requires the contractor to maintain GSA’s price position relative to a specified customer or customer category, as agreed upon during contract negotiations. These violations resulted in the United States being denied discounts that it was entitled to.

GSA Deputy Inspector General Robert C. Erickson said, “The United States deserves fair prices and accurate information from GSA contractors. This outcome is the result of hard work and dedication by a cross-functional team from the U.S. Department of Justice, GSA and GSA Office of Inspector General.”

Gen Digital Inc.’s payment concludes the lawsuit filed under the qui tam or whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which allows private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and receive a portion of the government’s recovery. The Act permits the United States to intervene and take responsibility for litigating these cases. The qui tam case is captionedĚýUnited States ex rel. Morsell v. Symantec Corp.,ĚýCiv. A. No.Ěý12-0800 (DDC), and was brought by Lori Morsell, who administered the contract at issue for Symantec. Morsell’s share of the recovery has not been determined yet.

If you have any information aboutĚýgovernment contract fraudĚýor if you would like to learn more about theĚýFalse Claims ActĚýorĚýwhat it means to be a whistleblower, please don’t hesitate toĚýcontactĚýus.Ěý We will connect you with an experienced member of ourĚýwhistleblower team.

Read Gen Digital Pays $55.1M False Claims Act Judgment for Intentional Overcharges to General Services Administration After Government Wins at Trial at constantinecannon.com

Dell Technologies, Inc. and Dell Federal Systems L.P. (“Dell”), based in Austin, Texas, have to pay $2.3 million to settle allegations of violating the False Claims Act. The allegations stem from claims that Dell submitted, and caused the submission of, non-competitive bids to the U.S. Army, resulting in overcharges under the Army Desktop and Mobile Computing 3 (ADMC-3) contract. In addition, Iron Bow Technologies LLC (Iron Bow), headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, has agreed to pay $2.05 million for its involvement in the scheme.

The settlements resolve that from May 2020 to April 2024, Dell operated a deal registration program that provided Iron Bow with preferential pricing to sell specific Dell computer hardware products to the Army in response to solicitations under the ADMC-3 contract. According to the U.S. government, Dell also submitted its own direct bids to the Army for the same solicitations, knowing that the prices would be higher than Iron Bow’s, thus giving the false impression of competition. The United States further alleged that Dell’s practice of submitting higher direct bids influenced the Army’s source selection process, ultimately allowing Iron Bow to overcharge the Army for specific Dell products.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division highlighted the importance of competition in government contracts, : “The United States relies on competition to get the best value and price for the American taxpayers. This settlement demonstrates the department’s commitment to hold accountable those who overcharge the government through collusion or other unlawful conduct.”

U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama said, “Fraud in the government contracting process costs taxpayers untold dollars each year. We will continue to work with our federal law enforcement partners to investigate and pursue those who commit government contracting fraud.”

The Dell settlement also resolves a lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, which allows private individuals to sue on behalf of the government if they believe a defendant has submitted false claims for government funds, and to receive a portion of any resulting recovery.

In this case, the settlement provides whistleblower Brent Lillard, an executive of another IT reseller, with a reward of $345,000 as his share of Dell’s recovery. The qui tam case is titled United States ex rel. Lillard v. Dell Technologies Inc., No. 5:20-CV-1613-HNJ (NDAL).

If you have any information about government contract fraud or if you would like to learn more about the False Claims Act or what it means to be a whistleblower, please don’t hesitate toĚýcontactĚýus.Ěý We will connect you with an experienced member of ourĚýwhistleblower team.

Read Deception Tied with a Bow: Dell and Iron Bow Settle for $4.3M Over False Claims Act Allegations in Army Bidding Scheme at constantinecannon.com