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Judge imposes maximum sentences in Fort Gordon bid-rigging conspiracy

May 28, 2018 By Andrew Smith

Two men who took part in a bid-rigging and bribery scheme involving $54 million in contracts at Fort Gordon received the maximum prison terms of five years last Wednesday despite the recommendation from the U.S. Attorney’s office for a reduction in their sentence.

Calvin Lawyer, 60, and Dwayne O. Fulton, 59, admitted in November to their roles in the conspiracy that ran from 2008, when Lawyer retired as a full colonel and started his own business called Communications Research Engineering and Consultant Group with the goal of obtaining government contracts. But Lawyer didn’t need to compete with other contractors because he paid bribes to ensure he got no-bid contracts from his former subordinate Col. Anthony Roper.

After learning they were under investigation in 2016, Lawyer, Roper and his wife, Audra Roper, and Fulton, who worked for the large defense contractor Kratos Defense & Security Solutions inc., fabricated documents to try to cover their tracks.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.augustachronicle.com/news/20180523/judge-imposes-maximum-sentences-in-fort-gordon-bid-rigging-conspiracy

Read earlier posts about this case here:

  • Former Army officer charged with bribery and fraud in connection with Ft. Gordon contracts

  • $20 million bribery, fraud indictment returned against military personnel at Fort Gordon

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: abuse, Army, bid rigging, bribery, conspiracy, false statement, Fort Gordon, fraud, indictment, kick-back, no bid, obstruction

IG says contractor tried to influence DOE to receive no-bid contract extension

November 20, 2014 By ei2admin

A contractor working at the Energy Department’s Sandia National Laboratories sought help from federal officials to receive a no-bid contract extension at the lab worth about $2.4 billion, a Nov. 7 DOE inspector general report says.

The report says Sandia Corporation, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin that runs the lab, campaigned aggressively to convince then Energy Secretary Steven Chu to extend it’s contract without any competition.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercegovernment.com/story/ig-contractor-tried-influence-doe-receive-no-bid-contract-extension/2014-11-13

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: competition, contract extension, DOE, Energy Dept., no bid, open competition

Former Georgia national guard employee indicted for corruption

January 31, 2014 By ei2admin

Raytosha Elliott, a former contracting official with the Georgia Department of Defense, has been indicted for allegedly awarding contracts in exchange for illegal kickbacks.

“Ms. Elliott took advantage of the trust her job afforded her to award no-bid contracts by giving them to her friends,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “The defendants pocketed nearly $75,000 from their scheme for work that was never completed, and denied services meant to maintain facilities supporting those who serve this country.”

Ricky Maxwell, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “This case is a direct result of government personnel detecting criminal financial irregularities and reporting them to the proper authorities. The FBI will continue to dedicate significant investigative resources to ensure that federal money is spent appropriately and as intended.”

Special Agent in Charge John F. Khin, Southeast Field Office, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, said, “In partnership with other law enforcement agencies, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service aggressively pursues all allegations of fraud and corruption impacting the Department of Defense and our warfighting mission, to ensure that American taxpayer dollars are not wasted or stolen.”

“The prosecution of individuals who manipulate normal business transactions in an effort to enrich themselves has always been a priority of IRS and our law enforcement partners”, stated Veronica F. Hyman-Pillot, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation.  “We are proud to have contributed our financial expertise in order to ensure that those who engage in these illegal activities are vigorously investigated and brought to justice.”

“This case is an excellent example of federal and state law enforcement working together to fight corruption,” said Vernon M. Keenan, Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Interim Inspector General Deb Wallace of the State of Georgia Office of Inspector General said, “Our office is dedicated to strengthening the trust between the citizens of Georgia and their public officials by continuously pursuing fraud, waste, abuse and corruption within the executive branch of state government. We would like to thank and recognize the Georgia Department of Defense for its vigilance and willingness to report irregularities within its contracting process. We appreciate the many investigative agencies who assisted on this case through countless hours of hard work to bring it to resolution.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  From May 2007 through April 2012, Elliott worked for the Georgia Department of Defense, the state agency charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the Ga. National Guard.  Elliott worked as an Engineering Operations Manager out of the Clay National Guard Center, located at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, in Marietta, Ga.  In that position, Elliott worked with engineering firms to develop bid-ready construction projects, prepared bid documents, and oversaw no-bid purchase orders.  Under the rules governing the contracting process that Elliott oversaw, projects that cost less than $5,000 did not need to go through a competitive bidding process, allowing Elliott to award the contracts.  She then certified that the work had been completed for those projects, and facilitated payment to the vendors who allegedly completed such projects.

In that position, Elliott awarded numerous contracts under $5,000 to vendor companies created by her friends and associates, including co-defendant Lakeysha Ellis.  In return, the friends and associates paid Elliott kickbacks, equal to 50% of the value of the contracts, for steering the contracts to them.  Elliott falsely certified that work had been completed when, in fact, it had not been in order to facilitate payment.  One of the vendor companies was Total Source Solution, LLC, owned by co-defendant Ellis.  Elliott awarded Total Source Solution 17 contracts with a total value of approximately $75,000.  Those contracts were for a variety of services supposedly to be performed by Total Source Solution, including electrical work, landscaping, and HVAC work.  But the work was never done.  Instead, the defendants split the money awarded under these contracts and spent it on personal items, including travel, meals, merchandise, and even liposuction treatment for Ellis.  As part of the scheme, Elliott owned a company named Tech Group Investments, LLC.  Ellis took money she had obtained from the Georgia Department of Defense contracts, and paid kickbacks to Elliott through this company.

The indictment also alleges that Ellis and Elliott conducted a similar fraud scheme from January 2009, through May 2011, when Ellis was an accountant at Baumueller-Nuermont Corporation, an industrial equipment company with offices in Atlanta.  Her job responsibilities included payroll and paying vendors.

While employed as Baumueller-Nuermont’s accountant, Ellis fraudulently funneled money to the defendants’ two sham companies, Total Source Solution and Tech Group Investments.  Ellis wrote corporate checks to Total Source Solution, signed her name on the checks, and forged the signature of the Vice President on the checks, to ensure that the checks could be negotiated.  Ellis recorded these payments in the check registry to reflect falsely that the checks had been issued to true vendors (such as American Express) when in fact they went to Ellis’ company.

As part of the scheme, Ellis also falsified employee records in the corporation’s payroll system to disguise payments to the defendants’ two companies.  Ellis created at least two phantom employees by altering the names of real employees (by switching their first and last names) and slightly changing their Social Security numbers.  She then caused the payroll system to make fraudulent salary payments to Total Source Solution and Tech Group Investments for these new, non-existent employees.

Baumueller-Nuermont lost about $85,000 from this scheme.

The ten count indictment charges Elliott, 33, and Ellis, 36, both of Atlanta, Ga., with two counts of conspiracy and seven counts of wire fraud.  Elliott is also charged with accepting a bribe or kickback as a public official.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only allegations.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Georgia Bureau of Investigation; the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service; Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation; the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command; and Deputy Inspectors General of the State of Georgia Office of the Inspector General.

Source: http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/press/2014/01-16-14.html 

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: blanket purchase orders, bribe, bribery, corruption, DoD, FBI, fraud, GBI, indictment, IRS, Justice Dept., kickback, national Guard, no bid, OIG, sham

Why suppliers ‘No Bid’

November 13, 2013 By ei2admin

The competitive bidding process is essential to ensure that products and services purchased by public procurement professionals on behalf of their agencies offer the best value and quality. But not all Requests for Proposal (RFPs) and/or Invitations for Bid (IFBs) are created equal. In theory, the bidding process is designed to result in responses from many potential suppliers. However, what if an RFP/IFB does not result in several qualified responses? If leading suppliers in the marketplace choose not to respond, what does that mean?

It’s unlikely suppliers didn’t know about the RFP/IFB or that they were “too busy” to respond. There’s a possibility some small local suppliers may not have the resources to know about potential bidding opportunities, but most regional, national and international companies monitor these opportunities closely.

Let’s look at some potential reasons why a supplier might opt to “No Bid.” The insights can help an agency strengthen its RFP/IFB practices and realize true best-value solutions.

Avoiding the Pitfalls

Here are some potential pitfalls of the RFP/IFB process that can cause a supplier to decide not to bid:

Keep reading this article at: http://americancityandcounty.com/government-procurement/why-suppliers-no-bid?

Filed Under: Contracting Tips Tagged With: competition, competitive bid, IFB, no bid, RFP

Despite push for competition, no-bid contracts increase and small business awards decline

March 22, 2013 By ei2admin

President Obama in 2009 told federal agencies that no-bid contracts were “wasteful’’ and “inefficient.’’ Four years later, his administration spent more money on non-competitive contracts than ever before.

Federal agencies awarded $115.2 billion in no-bid contracts in fiscal year 2012, an 8.9 increase from $105.8 billion from 2009, according to government data. The jump unfolded even as total contract spending decreased by about 5 percent. Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon were top recipients of sole-source contracts.

Those top Pentagon vendors and other large contractors can draw on established relationships with procurement officers to claim a greater share of non-competitive work, said Robert Burton, former acting administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy under George W. Bush.

“It highlights a growing problem in the procurement system,’’ said Burton, who represents contractors as a partner at Venable in Washington. “The pie is shrinking, but at the same time, the number of non-competitive awards has increased. That’s a bad combination.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/no-bid-us-government-contracts-jump-9-percent-despite-push-for-competition/2013/03/17/9f6708fc-8da0-11e2-b63f-f53fb9f2fcb4_print.html 

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: competition, competitive bid, no bid, OMB, open competition, small business, small business goals, sole-source

Marion Barry the Latest to Get Investigated for Giving No-Bid Contract

April 13, 2010 By ei2admin

Former Mayor of Washington, DC Marion Barry has been in and out of trouble over the last ten years as a City Councilman. He has had a nasty divorce, problems with “gifts” from city contractors and Federal tax liens.

His most recent flap concerned a $15,000 contract he gave to Donna Watts-Brighthaup, to provide personal services to his office.  The woman was Barry’s girlfriend at the time and gave back some of the money to Mr. Bary.   He is under investigation by Federal authorities for possible corruption.

While Barry’s colorful past — he did time for crack possession — is distinctive, he is not alone when it comes to getting into trouble for dodgy contracts.

  • The Post Office’s president of Mailing and Shipping, Robert Bernstock, recently raised eyebrows by awarding two contracts, worth almost $6 million, directly to former business associates. The U.S.P.S. announced that these contracts will not be renewed when they expire later this year.
  • In Alabama, Governor, Bob Riley (R), recently had issues with the state legislature over a contract to provide IT services. The $13 million no-bid award to Paragon Source LLC seemed even worse when the Contract Review Committee could not find an address to send a subpoena to the CEO to come testify before them. A lawsuit filed by the legislature to stop the contract was thrown out but the trouble still simmers.
  • In Memphis, the city’s Director of General Services, Estrice Boone, had the city invest $37,000 a month in an engine additive to supposedly improve mileage and life of city owned vehicles. This was against the advice of the fleet managers. The $900,000 spent on this product seems to have been wasted as no improvement has been found.  Mr. Boone is gone after a new mayor took office as is the money.  Mr. Boone told the city contracts office that the contract had to be given to “X-52 Distributing” without competition as they had a patent and could only make the product.

All this goes to illustrate a simple, common-sense point. Except in rare instances when there is little time or if there really is only a single provider who can do the work, no-bid, sole-source contracts are never the best way to go.

by Matthew Potter-bnet.com-Apr. 7, 2010

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: government contracting, no bid, sole-source

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