Government Contracting News | The Contracting Education Academy

March 17, 2021 By cs

A case study of the government’s struggle to police procurement fraud

On January 5, the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) awarded a contract worth up to $33 billion over 10 years to a privately held equipment supplier called Atlantic Diving Supply, Inc., or ADS.

Only small businesses were legally permitted to bid on the contract, and ADS has been accused of defrauding the Pentagon by falsely claiming to be a small business. According to the most recent official tally of top government contractors, ADS is ranked as the 24^th largest federal contractor in fiscal year 2019 with more than $3 billion in sales and ADS is the only “small business” among the top 50 that year.

ADS’s gargantuan new award for work on a Pentagon logistics program landed after the company’s majority owner, Luke M. Hillier, personally agreed to pay $20 million in 2019 to settle civil charges that his company defrauded the same program by falsely claiming to be a small business, among other accusations. An ADS spokesperson told the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) that Hillier is “unavailable for comment” and emails to him went unanswered.

In the months before Hillier’s settlement, three non-ADS executives including a former state politician pleaded guilty in a felony scheme. According to the Justice Department, Hillier — referred to as “Person Y” in court records — allegedly created the scheme to allow ADS to benefit from contracts set aside by law for small businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, often women- and minority-owned ventures. Companies controlled by those non-ADS executives then allegedly would partner with ADS to perform work on the contracts. The arrangement allegedly allowed ADS to benefit even though ADS is mostly owned by Hillier and thus was not eligible to bid on the contracts directly.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.pogo.org/investigation/2021/02/how-a-small-business-kingpin-wins-billions-in-defense-contracts/

March 16, 2021 By cs

Federal contractor agrees to pay more than $6 million to settle overbilling allegations

Virginia-based Information Innovators Inc. (Triple-I) has agreed to pay the United States $6.05 million to resolve allegations that a predecessor company, Creative Computing Solutions Inc. (CCSi), violated the False Claims Act by knowingly overbilling the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for work performed by CCSi employees who lacked required job qualifications.

Triple-I, which provides IT services and solutions to federal agencies, acquired Maryland-based CCSi in 2015. CCSi formerly provided IT services to DHS pursuant to an Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions Contract (EAGLE contract). The settlement resolves allegations that, from October 2007 to April 2014, CCSi knowingly submitted claims for payment to DHS for work performed by CCSi employees who lacked required job qualifications. CCSi allegedly violated the terms of the EAGLE Contract by using under-qualified personnel who were billed to DHS at higher rates reserved for more qualified employees.

“Contractors that knowingly overcharge the government will be held accountable,” said Acting Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The department will ensure that that those who do business with the government, and seek taxpayer funds, do so fairly and in accordance with their contractual commitments.”

“Defense contractors are required to bill for costs actually incurred, and to be truthful in the claims they submit to federal agencies,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner for the District of Maryland. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners are committed to protecting taxpayer dollars and ensuring integrity and compliance with federal agency standards.”

“DHS OIG remains committed to protecting government programs, and American taxpayers who contribute to them, from fraudsters,” said Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari. “Our agency, working closely with our law enforcement partners, will continue to root out these unlawful contracting fraud schemes.”

The settlement was a result of a joint investigation by the DOJ’s Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch (Fraud Section), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, and the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General’s Major Frauds and Corruption Unit. The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-contractor-agrees-pay-more-6-million-settle-overbilling-allegations

March 15, 2021 By cs

2021 NDAA includes numerous provisions impacting government contracts

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 (Pub. L. No. 116-283) was enacted into law on January 1, 2021, when the Senate voted to override President Trump’s veto of the bill.

The Senate’s move, the final step in the legislative process, followed the House’s earlier vote to override President Trump’s veto in December 2020.

The FY21 NDAA sets funding levels and outlines policy priorities for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). It also addresses many areas of importance to government contractors, including acquisition policy and management, supply chain and industrial base matters, and small business issues. The final version of the NDAA produced by negotiators on the Conference Committee included provisions from earlier House and Senate versions, which we summarized in an earlier article.

This article includes our annual summary, by topic, of the most relevant provisions of the FY21 NDAA for government contractors. As detailed below, some of the provisions from the earlier House and Senate versions of the NDAA that we highlighted in our previous article were not accepted into the final version. As we’ve previously summarized, the NDAA also includes numerous provisions addressing cybersecurity and artificial intelligence policies with ramifications far beyond DoD, including implementing recommendations from the Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s 2020 Report.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/national-defense-authorization-act-for-5444697/

March 12, 2021 By cs

CMMC language is in GSA’s latest contracts, but requirements will be order-specific

Any new cybersecurity requirements the General Services Administration (GSA) asks of contractors will be introduced at the order — not the contract — level, according to the deputy assistant commissioner of IT acquisition.

While language from the Department of Defense‘s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) has been included in GSA‘s latest governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWACs), any application of its five levels will be order specific, Keith Nakasone, deputy assistant commissioner for acquisition in GSA’s Office of IT Category, said during a recent AFFIRM event. (AFFIRM is the Association for Federal Information Resources Management.)

That way GSA can begin requiring contractors to prove their networks meet a certain maturity level while still ensuring agencies’ mission requirements are met.

“Not every single system is equal,” Nakasone said. “So we have to have the flexibility in the contracts to deliver the acquisition solutions.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/cmmc-requirements-order-specific-gsa/

Also see: https://fcw.com/articles/2021/02/17/cmmc-gsa-gwacs-get-ready.aspx

March 11, 2021 By cs

GAO: DoD has to get a handle on future services spending

As the Defense Department looks to buy more services, it’s going to need to come up with action plans to better account for spending in future years, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report.

Timothy DiNapoli, GAO’s director for contracting and national security acquisitions, wrote in a report to Congress that while DoD has identified areas to improve, it has yet to develop clear plans that manage spending services acquisitions over future fiscal years.

“DoD’s October 2020 report discusses the actions DOD has taken, or intends to take, to improve its management of service acquisitions, including actions to address many of the issues we have identified in our past work,” the Feb. 22 report states. “However, DoD’s report does not address our open 2016 recommendations intended to better position DoD to make informed decisions regarding the volume and type of services that should be acquired over the [Future Years Defense Program].”

GAO, which has flagged service contract spending as a high-risk issue since 2001, evaluated the Defense Department’s October report to Congress and found that DOD made strides but failed to lay out a full plan to incorporate spending on services in the future.

Keep reading this article at: https://fcw.com/articles/2021/02/22/dod-service-contracts-gao.aspx

On January 5, the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) awarded a contract worth up to $33 billion over 10 years to a privately held equipment supplier called Atlantic Diving Supply, Inc., or ADS.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 (Pub. L. No. 116-283) was enacted into law on January 1, 2021, when the Senate voted to override President Trump’s veto of the bill.

Any new cybersecurity requirements the General Services Administration (GSA) asks of contractors will be introduced at the order — not the contract — level, according to the deputy assistant commissioner of IT acquisition.

As the Defense Department looks to buy more services, it’s going to need to come up with action plans to better account for spending in future years, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report.

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