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Former Army colonel, wife sentenced to prison for roles in Fort Gordon fraud, kickback scheme

February 11, 2019 By Andrew Smith

A former active-duty U.S. Army colonel and his wife were sentenced to federal prison and fined more than $200,000 Feb. 5th for their roles in steering government contracts to co-conspirators in return for cash.

Anthony Roper of Augusta, Georgia pled guilty to Procurement Integrity Fraud and was sentenced to 60 months in prison and fined $200,000. He also will be subject to three years of supervised release after his sentence is completed.  There is no parole in the federal prison system. Roper’s wife, Audra Roper, pled guilty to Accessory After the Fact and was sentenced to 28 days in prison, fined $10,000, and placed on five years of probation.

According to evidence presented during guilty pleas and sentencing hearings, Anthony Roper, then in active-duty status at Fort Gordon, accepted bribes from Calvin Devear Lawyer, a retired U.S. Army colonel, to steer Army contracts worth more than $20 million to Lawyer’s company, the CREC group. Based on false representations from Lawyer and Dwayne Oswald Fulton, then an employee of a defense contractor, CREC group had been awarded Small Business Administration (SBA) status as a small, disadvantaged business, and the company used that status to gain competitive advantage in contracting.

The conspiracy also included the creation of fraudulent documents in an attempt to cover up bribes to Anthony Roper after law enforcement agencies discovered the scheme. Lawyer previously pled guilty in the case and was sentenced to 60 months in prison. As part of his sentence, Lawyer also paid a $3 million personal money judgment and a $2 million civil penalty.

The cases were investigated by the United States Army Criminal Investigations Division (CID), the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), the Small Business Administration’s Office of Inspector General, and the United States Attorney’s Office.

“Taxpayers deserve above-board behavior from those who do business with the federal government, especially with the military,’” said Southern District of Georgia U.S. Attorney Bobby L. Christine. “It is particularly disappointing when members of the armed forces violate their oaths of office to steal from the public, and our office will prosecute those crimes vigorously.”

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdga/pr/former-army-colonel-wife-sentenced-prison-roles-fort-gordon-fraud-kickback-scheme

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: CID, DCIS, DOJ, Fort Gordon, fraud, IG, Justice Dept., SBA, small disadvantaged business

Major contractor pays $1.7 million to settle overcharges on GSA Schedule

January 29, 2018 By Andrew Smith

Accenture Federal Services LLC (Accenture), located in Reston, has agreed to pay $1,744,559 to settle overcharges billed to a General Services Administration multiple award schedule contract.

The resolution follows from a disclosure by the company to the U.S. Army Contracting Command, which arose out of an internal investigation conducted by Accenture. Accenture reported to the government that overcharges had been caused by unauthorized purchases of copy toner that had been surreptitiously made by a subcontractor on the contract. The disclosure by Accenture to the Army was made pursuant to the Contractor Code of Business Ethics and Conduct under the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). Accenture provided assistance during the government’s investigation.

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Army Criminal Investigation Command. The civil claims settled are allegations only; there has been no determination of civil liability.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/accenture-pays-17-million-settle-overcharged-government-contract

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: Accenture, Army, CID, DOJ, ethics, FAR, GSA Schedule, Justice Dept., MAS, overcharge

Civil litigation can sink contractors

April 22, 2014 By ei2admin

Most people picture high stakes civil litigation taking place in a courtroom where a party has the chance to persuade a judge or jury to validate or reject huge claims for damages.

But envision a different picture, one that takes place in a United States attorney’s office, where only an investigator is running the show, along with a prosecutor, a court reporter and a company’s ex-employee who was “in the know.”

Law enforcement is questioning this former worker under oath, on the record, about claims against a company in a sealed complaint. And this testimony could lead to treble damages. The company doesn’t know about this meeting or even that there is a complaint against it.

Welcome to the new front in high stakes False Claims Act litigation: civil investigative demands, or CIDs.

While the second scenario is not necessarily common place — usually companies eventually learn about an investigation or a whistleblower lawsuit — it can, and does, happen. Use of CIDs in False Claims Act investigations is increasing and defense contractors need to recognize the risks and implement best practices in the event a CID is served on one of its employees.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2014/April/Pages/CivilLitigationCanSinkContractors.aspx

Filed Under: Contracting Tips Tagged With: CID, civil investigative demands, claim, complaint, False Claims Act, litigation, whistleblower

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