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April 3, 2013 By AMK

Groups say veteran-owned contracting still broken

Despite a history of complaints to Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs, veterans advocacy groups say VA is still placing far too many hurdles in front of veteran-owned small businesses in its contracting program. VA, meanwhile, says it’s making changes.

VA’s programs for preferentially awarding contracts to veteran-owned small businesses are unlike those of any other agency in government. In a 2006 law, Congress told VA to take a “veterans first” approach to procurement, making service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses its first choice for any given contract and all other veteran-owned small businesses its second choice.

But to deter fraud, Congress also told VA to set up a system to verify contractors’ veteran status before they could get set-aside contracts. That set up a careful balancing act for the agency between detecting potential fraud and making the process as easy as possible for legitimate veteran-owned businesses.  And veterans groups are telling Congress VA has allowed that scale to fall way too far in one direction.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/65/3257550/Groups-say-veteran-owned-contracting-still-broken.

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: certification, CVE, fraud, SDVOSB, set-aside, VA, veteran owned business

August 28, 2012 By AMK

IG: Health care contractor benefited from sham veteran-owned businesses

Health Net Inc., a large company with revenues of $11.9 billion in 2011, encouraged a Veterans Affairs Department employee to set up a service-disabled veteran-owned small business in 2006 so Health Net could increase its own business with the department that involved re-pricing health care claims, a VA inspector general review found.

The veteran-owned business, Enterprise Technology Solutions, performed little work under its contracts with VA and instead subcontracted the work to Health Net in violation of contracting rules, according to an investigation by the VA inspector general released Monday.

The IG staff reviewed five contracts held by Enterprise Technology Solutions valued at $82 million over a two-year period.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/health/2012/08/ig-health-care-contractor-benefited-sham-veteran-owned-businesses/57575/?oref=ng-flyin.

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: abuse, fraud, IG, re-pricing, SDVOSB, sham, VA, veteran owned business

July 12, 2012 By AMK

Vet-owned small firms received 20 percent of VA FY 2011 contracts

The Department of Veterans Affairs awarded 20 percent of its contract dollars to veteran-owned small businesses in fiscal year 2011, exceeding the department goal set by VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

According to a VA release, Shinseki set a goal of 12 percent for veteran-owned small businesses.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.executivegov.com/2012/07/vet-owned-small-firms-received-20-of-va-fy-2011-contracts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+execgov+%28Executive+Gov%29.

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: set-aside, VA, veteran owned business

November 18, 2011 By AMK

Man indicted for fraudulently winning gov’t contracts set-aside for service disabled vets

A federal grand jury indicted a Luthersville man this week on charges of getting $2.85 million in government contracts by fraudulently claiming his business was controlled by a veteran.

Arthur Wayne Singleton, a 62-year old construction contractor, defrauded programs that set aside certain government contracts for businesses owned and controlled by disabled veterans, according to a federal indictment.

“This defendant allegedly took advantage of a service-disabled veteran of the Vietnam War, using the veteran’s name and disabled status to gain millions of dollars in federal contracts,” U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said. “Fraud like this deprives legitimate disabled veteran-owned small businesses of the opportunity to enter into construction contracts with the government.”

Attempts to reach Singleton or his lawyer Brian Steel for comment were unsuccessful.

The contract program is an important resource for disabled vets because they are often discriminated against in employment and business opportunities, said David Autry, spokesman for the Disabled American Veterans in Washington DC.

“For whatever reason,” he said, “people prefer not to do business with them.”

Singleton approached a bed-ridden Vietnam vet, identified in the indictment only as “GT”, in 2007 and proposed they form a joint venture called GMT Mechanical that could take advantage of set-aside construction contracts from the federal government, according to the indictment. GT suffers from severe knee injuries and other health issues as a result of his service. Singleton, who had more than 30 years of construction and federal contract experience, completely controlled the enterprise, the indictment said, and federal rules required the disabled veteran to control the business and own 51 percent.

Singleton secured contracts from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for construction projects around the country. According to the indictment, Singleton paid GT $17,964 because he said he had “to make it look as though GT was part of the business.”

The U.S. Attorney’s office has not indicted GT but declined to say whether he was a cooperating witness.

The payment to GT followed an inquiry by the VA, which sent a letter in February 2008 stating GMT Mechanical wasn’t eligible for “service-disabled veteran-owned contracts” because GT didn’t control the business or own 51 percent of it. But Singleton went ahead and submitted bids for a $290,000 contract in Iowa with the Agriculture Department, a $96,000 contract in Wyoming with the Homeland Security Department and a $1.375 million contract in North Dakota with the Defense Department and forged GT’s signature on the bids, according to the indictment.

— by Steve Visser, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5:41 p.m. Thursday, November 10, 2011. Find this article at: http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/man-accused-of-defrauding-1222311.html

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: Agriculture Dept., Army Corps of Engineers, Coast Guard, DHS, DoD, fraud, SDVOSB, service disabled, VA, veteran owned business

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