Government Contract Fraud

The General Services Administration, or GSA, oversees many of the government’s procurement contracts. Due to the large number of procurements it handles, there is a significant possibility of corruption and fraud. There have been multiple cases in which multi-million dollar settlements were reached after the whistle was blown on fraud against the GSA, including an almost $200 million...

We wrote on this topic once bofore, but thought it was worth another looks.It is somewhat counter-intuitive to think of underbidding a contract as fraud, and as a violation of the False Claims Act (the “FCA”).  Indeed, the FCA was enacted during the Civil War in response to overcharges and other abuses by defense contractors. United States ex rel. Harrison v. Westinghouse Savannah River Co.,...

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) prohibits United States Companies and individuals (as well as certain foreign companies that are required to make certain filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)) from offering bribes or kickback to obtain business.  The FCPA specifically addresses bribery as follows: It shall be unlawful for any issuer …, or for any...

On August 2, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its decision in United States ex rel. Hooper v. Lockheed Martin Corp., holding that underbidding on a $900 million government contract creates liability under the False Claims Act. The ruling marks the first time a federal court of appeals has considered whether underbidding constitutes a violation under the qui tam...