LAWSUITS – Ms Sparky

Archive for the LAWSUITS Category

Judge Tosses KBR Defense to Feds’ False Claims Case

“More Cost….More Plus” as the KBR managers used to say!

Ryan Abbott - (Courthouse News) – WASHINGTON – Defense contractor KBR cannot deflect fraud claims by accusing the U.S. government of failing to provide “force protection,” a federal judge ruled.

Formerly known as Kellogg Brown & Root Services, the contractor faces up to $300 million in civil penalties and treble damages on charges that it overbilled the government for private security contractors in Iraq.

The Army hired KBR to provide logistical services, such as transportation, maintenance, facilities management and dining facilities, for U.S. military operations around the world. But the contract excluded payment for armed contractors that provide security for KBR and its subcontractors.

Though KBR hired Triple Canopy, Omega Risk Solutions and Al Dhahir to provide security for executives in Iraq, the government says it should have relied on military protection. Its 2010 complaint alleges that KBR collected “more than $100 million in payments related to private security.”

In a 2011 answer and a counterclaim, KBR accused the government of not providing enough security.

Chief U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth dismissed the counterclaim Monday but said the contractor can try revising the claim to pass muster at a later date.

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Tags: Al Dhahir, False Claims Act, Judge Royce Lamberth, KBR, Omega Risk Solutions, Triple Canopy

Agility files breach of contract suit against DLA Troop Support

By Forseti | Filed in Agility/PWC/GCC, GOV. CONTRACTORS, Indictments, Convictions & Arrests, LAWSUITS

The claim, which was filed at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals in Virginia, alleges that U.S. government officials employed by DLA and the Department of Justice conspired to intentionally deprive Agility of performance-based fee that it was entitled to under the Second Prime Vendor Contract. Agility said under the contract it was entitled to distribution fees based on superior performance if it passed an objective evaluation by the Defense Supply Centre Philadelphia (DSCP) and was found to have met the listed requirements of achieving its targets for percentage of orders filled successfully. ~Asian Legal Business

Agility files $225 mln suit against U.S. agency

(Reuters) – April 24, 2012 – Kuwaiti logistics company Agility said on Tuesday it had filed for $225 million in claims against the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), saying the agency had breached the terms of a contract.

Agility said in a statement U.S. government officials employed by the DLA and Department of Justice “conspired and acted in concert to intentionally deprive Agility of its rights under the Second Prime Vendor Contract.”

It said this was “breaching the contract’s express and implied terms and violating regulatory duties.”

The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait was not immediately available for comment.

The $225 million comprises the amount owed in performance-based distribution fees plus interest, Agility said. The contract entailed distributing food products to combat units.

Agility, the largest Gulf Arab logistics company, said it had filed the claims at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals in Virginia. (Click HERE for original article)

Tags: Agility, Agility DGS Holdings, Agility/PWC/GCC, Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, DLA Troop Support*, DLA*, DoJ*, U.S. Department of Justice(DoJ)

Faulty flares cost ATK Launch Systems nearly $37 million

By Forseti | Filed in GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, Qui Tam

KENDALL DYE, THE WHISTLEBLOWER: “I am glad that the company, rather than taxpayers, is bearing the cost of fixing the problem with the flares. There were simple, inexpensive tests that would have revealed the defect.”

ERIC R. HAVIAN, SAN FRANCISCO ATTORNEY WITH PHILLIPS & COHEN: “ATK’s own calculations found that the flares could ignite if dropped from a height as low as 11.5 inches. This put military personnel at serious risk of death or injury if the flares were accidentally dropped while being handled or in transit. No military contractor should put profits ahead of the lives of military personnel.”~Marketwatch

Atk Launch Systems Inc. Settles False Claims Product Substitution Case for Nearly $37 Million

Allegedly Delivered Unsafe Illuminating Para-flares Under Department of Defense Contracts

(DoJ) – April 23, 2012 – ATK Launch Systems Inc. has agreed to a $36,967,160 settlement with the United States to resolve allegations that ATK sold dangerous and defective illumination flares to the Army and the Air Force. According to the government’s allegations, from 2000 to 2006, ATK delivered LUU-2 and LUU-19 illuminating para-flares to the Defense Department. These flares, which burn in excess of 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit for over five minutes, are used for nighttime combat, covert and search and rescue operations and have been used extensively by American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan in the global war on terror. The government alleged that the flares delivered by ATK were incapable of withstanding a 10-foot drop test without exploding or igniting, as required by specifications, and that ATK was aware of this when it submitted claims for payment.

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Tags: Alliant Techsystems, Army CID*, Atk Launch Systems Inc., DCIS*, Defense Criminal Investigative Service*! Kendall Dye, Eric R. Havian, NCIS

Gone Fishin’ and other news

By Forseti | Filed in Civilian Contractors, Commission on Wartime Contracting (CWC), GOV. CONTRACTORS, Indictments, Convictions & Arrests, LAWSUITS, Politics, Rape, Hazing, Discrimination & Harassment, Reports & Investigations, U.S. Army

We imagine the lobbyist stalking the halls of Congress trying to use cash to influence important people. But it doesn’t always work that way. Often, the Congressman is stalking the lobbyist, asking for money. ~ NPR, Money in Politics Series

Army probes drug use by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan
Lolita C. Baldor – (The Associated Press) – WASHINGTON – April 21, 2012 – The U.S. Army has investigated 56 soldiers in Afghanistan on suspicion of using or distributing heroin, morphine or other opiates during 2010 and 2011, newly obtained data shows. Eight soldiers died of drug overdoses during that time.

While the cases represent just a slice of possible drug use by U.S. troops in Afghanistan, they provide a sombre snapshot of the illicit trade in the war zone, including young Afghans peddling heroin, soldiers dying after mixing cocktails of opiates, troops stealing from medical bags and Afghan soldiers and police dealing drugs to their U.S. comrades.

In a country awash with poppy fields that provide up to 90 per cent of the world’s opium, the U.S. military struggles to keep an eye on its far-flung troops and monitor for substance abuse.

But U.S. Army officials say that while the presence of such readily available opium — the raw ingredient for heroin — is a concern, opiate abuse has not been a pervasive problem for troops in Afghanistan. (Click HERE for article)

Government Worker Claims Rape on the Job
Iulia Filip – (Courthouse News) – MONTGOMERY, Ala. – April 20, 2012 – The U.S. government faces federal claims that a manager in the Defense Department harassed and repeatedly raped a contract worker.

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A taxing situation and other news

By Forseti | Filed in GOV. CONTRACTORS, Indictments, Convictions & Arrests, LAWSUITS, Politics, Reports & Investigations, U.S. Army

Pentagon defends millions to contractor despite unpaid taxes
Tom Vanden Brook – (USA Today) – WASHINGTON - April 15, 2012 – The tax problems of the military’s top propaganda contractor in Afghanistan would not have prevented the Pentagon from awarding it multimillion-dollar contracts, a top official said in a letter to U.S. senators.

The owners of Leonie Industries, the contractor, owed at least $4 million in federal taxes when the contracts were awarded. Because the owners had entered into agreements to pay the overdue taxes with the Internal Revenue Service, they were not required to tell the Pentagon about their tax debt, acting Undersecretary of Defense Frank Kendall wrote in a letter to Sen. Tom Carper.

Carper, D-Del., said he wants the IRS and Pentagon to work more closely to ensure that contractors with large tax debts receive more scrutiny. (Click HERE for article)

Confusion over S3.2bn fraud penalty fund
Olawale Rasheed, Abuja Monday – (Nigerian Tribune) – April 16, 2012 – Nigeria and the United States of America are now locked in a struggle over an accumulated $3.2 billion penalty paid by American companies who were convicted of bribing Nigerian officials in order to secure juicy contracts.

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