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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

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: DHS, DOJ, EAGLE, false claims, False Claims Act, Justice Dept., overbilling

March 9, 2021 By cs

E-Verify records purge scheduled for May 14

Each year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) purges records that are more than ten years old from its E-Verify system.

E-Verify is a web-based system that allows enrolled employers to confirm the eligibility of their newly hired employees to work in the United States.  The E-Verify system verifies information provided by employees on the Form I-9 against Social Security Administration (SSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) records.

The next records disposal, which will take place on May 14, 2021, will delete E-Verify records created on or before December 31, 2010.  E-Verify employers have until May 14, 2021 to download case information if they want to retain information about these E-Verify cases.  Instructions for downloading a Historic Records Report from E-Verify is available here.

Employers are required to record the E-Verify case verification number on the corresponding Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, or alternatively attach a copy of the case details page to Form I-9.  If supplementing existing Forms I-9 with historical E-Verify data, employers should retain the Historic Records Report with their affected Forms I-9.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/e-verify-records-purge-scheduled-may-14-2021 

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: DHS, E-Verify, Homeland Security, SSA, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS

February 3, 2021 By cs

Border wall construction paused, contracts and funding under review

President Biden paused construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall and ordered a review of its contracts and funding, hours after being sworn in on Jan. 20. 
Photo credit: DoD

The border wall was a signature of President Trump who made strict immigration policies a cornerstone of his administration.  However, many viewed the wall as a waste of taxpayer resources and symbolism for xenophobia.  Biden’s executive order on the border wall was one of the first he signed on Wednesday evening and one of several aimed at reversing the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.

“Like every nation, the United States has a right and a duty to secure its borders and protect its people against threats. But building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution,” said the executive order.   “It is a waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats to our homeland security.  My administration is committed to ensuring that the United States has a comprehensive and humane immigration system that operates consistently with our nation’s values.”

The order terminated the national emergency for the Southern border that Trump issued on February 15, 2019, shortly after the end of the longest shutdown in history, which resulted from differences over funding for the wall.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2021/01/biden-pauses-construction-border-wall/171548/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: Army Corps of Engineers, border wall, contract termination, Customs and Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection, DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement

December 10, 2020 By cs

Creating an infrastructure for procurement innovation at DHS

Setting up the Department of Homeland Security’s Procurement Innovation Lab (PIL) was one of the first things Soraya Correa did after becoming DHS chief procurement officer in 2015.

It originally had one half of one full-time employee, and the lab reported to her.  Polly Hall, the PIL’s current director, came to the lab in 2017 from having worked as a contracting officer on a Transportation Security Administration procurement where she had been trying to think about new techniques for doing advisory downselects.  Since then the PIL has grown to a full-time staff of six, and most DHS components also have an acquisition innovation advisor (not a full-time position) who acts as a sort of local representative for what the PIL and Correa were trying to do.

With the PIL’s own staff and the acquisition innovation advisors in the components, DHS arguably has established more of an ongoing innovation capacity than any other federal agency.  Correa and her colleagues are institutionalizing innovation, something we rarely see in the government.

The PIL’s operating principle is not to force itself on DHS contracting people. It is not a tiger team that swoops in and takes over a procurement.  PIL staffers come in only when asked by the people doing the procurement – both program and contracting people. They provide advice to the frontline folks, and those employees then do the work.  For projects being supported, staff from the PIL meet with their contracting customers every other week for 15 minutes until the contract or task order is awarded.

Keep reading this article at: https://fcw.com/blogs/lectern/2020/11/kelman-dis-pil-innovations.aspx

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition reform, DHS, Procurement Innovation Lab, procurement reform

October 30, 2020 By cs

GAO: DHS chief acquisition officer must improve vetting of components’ procurement executives

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report stating that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) chief acquisition officer needs to improve the assessment of DHS units’ component acquisition executives (CAE).

Photo source: GAO

In its report, GAO says that the DHS chief acquisition officer selects CAEs that handle DHS components’ acquisition-related policies, workforce, data collection and reporting functions.

Components such as the U.S. Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have implemented CAE vetting procedures, according to GAO.

However, the watchdog said that four out of five CAEs in the DHS Management Directorate, including three acting CAEs, “have not been subjected to this process.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.executivegov.com/2020/10/gao-dhs-chief-acquisition-officer-must-improve-vetting-of-components-procurement-executives/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition reform, acquisition workforce, CBP, Coast Guard, continuous improvement, CWMD, DHS, GAO, procurement reform, TSA

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