Government Cost Accounting Fraud
A major defense contractor paid $82 million to settle a qui tam whistleblower lawsuit alleging that the contractor had falsely allocated commercial costs to government contracts.
VSG’s qui tam lawyers, while in private practice and previously with the Department of Justice, have successfully represented whistleblowers and the government, winning many significant False Claims Act recoveries and qui tam settlements. Our whistleblower lawsuits have received national coverage in the media, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and 60 Minutes.
The following are summaries of some of our cases.
Weapons Testing & Quality Assurance Fraud
Teledyne Inc. paid more than $115 million to settle claims in two qui tam whistleblower lawsuits that the company falsely certified testing of electromagnetic parts used in weapons systems and padded estimates on sole source contracts. Teledyne also plead guilty to 35 criminal counts of making false statements and paid a $17.5 million fine.
Overbilling on Government Software Contracts
CA Technologies agreed to pay over $11 million to settle allegations that the software giant violated the federal False Claims Act and similar state and local statutes through the fraudulent billing of hundreds of public agencies on software maintenance renewal contracts.
Inflated Cost Estimates on Government Contracts
The Gallup Organization paid $10.5 million to resolve allegations that it defrauded the United States Government by submitting false and inflated labor hours and cost estimates in connection with price negotiations for fixed-price contracts to conduct polling for the U.S. Mint and State Department, and by obtaining Government contract work from FEMA while engaging in employment discussions with a FEMA official.
Medicare Carrier Quality Control Fraud
Blue Shield of California, a Medicare carrier, paid $12 million to settle allegations in a qui tam whistleblower action that it misrepresented the quality of claims processing services it was providing for the Medicare program.
Medicare Intermediary Quality Control Fraud
BlueCross/Blue Shield of Michigan, the fiscal intermediary for Medicare in Michigan, paid more than $27.6 million to settle qui tam whistleblower claims alleging that it cheated on quality control tests in order to misrepresent the quality of the auditing services it was providing for the Medicare program.