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December 28, 2018 By AMK

$110,000 settlement reached with tech company and CEO to resolve allegations of false claims on Defense contract

The U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado, has announced that Progressive Technology Federal Systems, Inc. and its Chief Executive Officer have paid a combined $110,000 to settle allegations that the corporation and its CEO made false statements concerning a consultant’s security clearance and failed to disclose an organizational conflict of interest when bidding on a defense procurement contract. 

One way federal government agencies can buy information technology services is by working with the National Institutes of Health’s Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC).   NITAAC is a government-wide program that enables agencies to contract for information technology.  Other federal agencies, including the military, regularly work with NITAAC.

The United States’ allegations relate to a project in which NITAAC was used by the Army and the Air Force for a contract that was awarded to Progressive Technology Federal Systems, Inc. (PTFS).   The United States contends that in 2014, PTFS’s President and CEO, John Yokley, participated in preparing project specifications for a contract to be issued by NITAAC.  The project then was offered by NITAAC for contract bids.  PTFS then submitted its own proposal to take on the contract.  In doing so, however, PTFS stated that it had no conflict of interest relating to the contract.  This statement was false because PTFS had a conflict in that Mr. Yokley had provided input on project specifications that were included in the contract, thereby gaining a competitive advantage for PTFS.  In addition, the project required security clearances, and PTFS falsely stated in its proposal that an individual who would participate in the project as a key “Subject Matter Expert” had an active Top Secret clearance.  PTFS was awarded the contract.  Funding for the contract was later terminated before PTFS could invoice more than $30,000.  The United States claimed that this conduct violated the False Claims Act.

The claims settled by this agreement are allegations.  In entering into this civil settlement, PTFS and Mr. Yokley did not admit liability.  Under the agreement, PTFS paid $65,000, and Mr. Yokley paid $45,000, to resolve the allegations.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr/us-attorney-announces-110000-settlement-tech-company-and-its-ceo-resolve-allegations

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: Air Force, Army, competitive advantage, conflict of interest, DoD, DOJ, false claims, information technology, IT, Justice Dept., NITAAC

March 26, 2012 By AMK

Respect for People: Raising the value of your most important assets

Join Georgia Tech for the annual Lean Consortium event and learn about the evolution of lean from the factory floor to human development. This year’s seminar focuses on becoming more competitive by incorporating the Harada method into your organization through linking the development of people to your organization’s success.

Lean Consortium Event Details:

 Respect for People
 Date: Thursday, May 10, 2012
 Time: 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. (registration begins at 9:00 a.m.)
 Location: Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway
 Price: $295*
 Keynote Speaker: Norman Bodek

*If you have 5 or more from the same company, the group rate is $240 per seat. Contact Tim Israel to secure multiple seats at this rate.

Seminar Topics:

 The Harada Method: strengthening leaders to inspire employees to develop success goals and work out the detail plans necessary for attaining them
 Understanding and Incorporating the human side of Lean
 Turning managers into active coaches to build a winning team

Benefits of Attending:

 Understand ways to grow employees to make your company more competitive
 Learn to empower and involve employees in the improvement process
 Discover ways to enhance communication throughout the organization

Speaker:

After 18 years working with Data Processing companies, Norman Bodek founded the publishing, consulting, and training firm PCS Press Inc., where he is working to broaden the implementation of lean from the production floor to the entire enterprise. He is an author of over 100 Japanese management books on tools for continuous improvement. Norman is an accomplished presenter, having led numerous seminars, conference sessions, and training events on many continuous improvement subjects. He is also co-founder of the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence.

Filed Under: Georgia Tech News Tagged With: competitive advantage, continuous improvement, human resources, innovation, lean

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