Government Contract Cases

Over 1000 public schools throughout California are set to receive their share of $68.5 million in a landmark California False Claims Act settlement with Office Depot. The whistleblower who reported the fraud has been awarded a hefty amount of money as well.

Office Depot Allegedly Overcharged California Schools

According to a news post from the San Bernardino County Sun, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties are two of the big winners in the resolution of California False Claims Act case surrounding an alleged scheme whereby Office Depot fraudulently overcharged California school districts for school supplies....

Document storage firm Iron Mountain paid $44.5 million to settle allegations of government procurement fraud. Whistleblowers Brent Stanley and Patrick McKillop filed a False Claims Act lawsuit in California alleging Iron Mountain overcharged federal entities for record storage services. Stanley and McKillop will collect just over $8 million for alerting the government to the company’s alleged fraudulent contract violations.

Brent Stanley and Patrick McKillop Allege Iron Mountain Overcharged GSA

From 2001 to 2014, Boston based Iron Mountain Inc. and Iron Mountain Information Management LLC provided government record storage services via the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program, a program that supplies the government with a structured means of obtaining commercial goods and services....

German citizen Michael Epp will receive a $16 million False Claims Act whistleblower award in a $146 million FCA settlement against Supreme Foodservice GmbH and Supreme Foodservice FZE announced today. The case is doubly significant in first affirming the trend of paying non-U.S. citizens cash rewards for blowing the whistle on frauds against the United States government and second as one of the largest government contract fraud cases to date.

Whistleblower Lawsuit: Overcharging and Other Government Contract Fraud

Michael Epp filed his False Claims Act case in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania under the FCA’s whistleblower provision allowing a private party to file a whistleblower lawsuit on behalf of the people of the United States and share in any monies recovered. Epp was a Supreme Commercial Division and Supply Chain director with inside knowledge of the complex set of alleged frauds....

The Boeing Company has played a large and diverse role in producing products, services and processes for the U.S. Defense Department over the past century. But Boeing has come under the gun recently for repeatedly engaging in fraudulent activity that’s cost the federal government and taxpayers millions. Company insiders have blown the whistle on these activities, setting off a series of False Claims Act (FCA) cases involving the manufacturer.

Four Boeing employees and ex-employees brought the latest FCA case, United States ex rel. Craddock v. Boeing, resolved in October 2014; they will share an award of almost $4 million. Boeing, meanwhile, will pay $23 million, pursuant to allegations that the company falsely claimed labor charges for maintenance on C-17 Globemaster aircraft....

Whistleblower John Dickson was rewarded with $7.9 million after filing a qui tam lawsuit that helped the federal government uncover a Japanese ink producer’s antidumping scheme. Toyo Ink and affiliates agreed to pay $45 million to settle allegations that it made false claims regarding its carbazole violet pigment 23 (CVP23) imports to avoid paying customs duties.

Dickson Alleges False Statements on Country of Origin Labeling and Customs Docs

The Japan-based Toyo Ink SC Holdings Co. Ltd. is a global pigment producer with affiliates in New Jersey and Illinois. CVP23 is a pigment required in ink production and has been subject to U.S. Customs duties since 2004 for imports from China and India. Additional antidumping duties (ADs and CVDs) are required on CVP23 with Chinese or Indian origin. For CVP23 produced in any other country, the additional US antidumping duties don’t apply....