Warren Benson Law Group

Foreign companies that do business with the United Sates are not beyond the reach of its laws when it comes to waste and fraud. The Department of Justice proved this to be the case when last month they announced that Agility Public Warehousing Co. KSC (Agility) – a Kuwaiti company – had agreed to resolve criminal, civil and administrative cases against it regarding their food contracts with the Department of Defense. The company’s contract covered food service for U.S. Troops from 2003 through 2010. As a part of a global resolution, Agility has agreed to pay $95 million to resolve civil fraud claims, to forgo $249 million in claims to DOD and to plead guilty to theft of government funds. For its part, the DOD’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) will release a claim of $27.9 million against Agility and lift its suspension of the company. (Agility had been suspended from entering into federal contracts for a period of seven years.) “This settlement marks the conclusion of a lengthy in...

Whistleblowing often contributes to the process of uncovering waste, fraud, and abuse by aiding some of society’s most disadvantaged members. Proof of this was demonstrated last week when the Justice Department announced that it was intervening in a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and the CRA/LA (formerly the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles). The suit alleges that CRA/La and the City of Los Angeles falsely certified that they were in compliance with HUD’s accessibility laws specifically Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. This act is meant to ensure that disabled individuals have equal access to public housing. According to the lawsuit CRA/LA and the City of Los Angeles applied for and received millions of dollars from HUD and that a portion of that money was meant to provide affordable housing for people with disabilities in compliance with HUD’s accessibility laws. The laws, in part, require that five percent of all units in federally-assist...

The government’s crackdown on fraud and abuse has netted several companies who allegedly conspired to put both taxpayers and borrows at risk of significant financial losses. Last week, the Justice Department announced that mortgage lenders PPH. Corp, PPH Mortgage Corp. and PPH Home Loans have collectively agreed to pay it more than $74 million to resolve allegations that they knowingly originated and underwrote mortgage loans that did not meet applicable requirements for said loans. These loans were insured by agencies such as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and guaranteed by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and purchased by the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”). PPH is slated to pay $65 million to the FHA and $9.45 million to the VA and FHFA. “Government mortgage programs designed to assist homeowners — includ...

Once again the government has proven that fraud and bribery are not victimless crimes. They impact taxpayers in every way. It proved this last week when it announced that Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) – a defense contractor based in Newport, Virginia – has agreed to pay a $9.2 million settlement to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by deliberately overbilling for labor completed on U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships. Under the settlement, HII will pay $7.9 million which will be combined with an earlier payment it made of $1.3 million. “Contractors that knowingly bill the government in violation of contract terms will face serious consequences,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This settlement demonstrates, once again, that we will not tolerate defense contractors who falsely charge the armed forces or any agency of the United States.” The settlement resolves allegations that HII mischarged f...