Qui Tam, Federal False Claims Act, Defense Contractor Fraud and Government Contractor Fraud News

Recently several news stories have surfaced regarding suspected defense contractor fraud and government contractor fraud.  Below are brief exerts of some news stories on potential Defense Contractor Fraud Claims and Government Contractor Fraud Claims.  For more information follow the links to these stories.

Army Overseer Tells of Ouster Over KBR Stir By JAMES RISEN Published: June 17, 2008 New York Times

WASHINGTON - The Army official who managed the Pentagon's largest contract in Iraq says he was ousted from his job when he refused to approve paying more than $1 billion in questionable charges to KBR, the Houston-based company that has provided food, housing and other services to American troops.

Qui tam actions typically revolve around false claims that are either directly or indirectly presented to the Government for "payment or approval." These false claims can be generated through the submission of false bills, records, statements or other representations made to the Government.

Iraq Spending Ignored Rules, Pentagon Says By JAMES GLANZ Published: May 23, 2008 New York Times

A Pentagon audit of $8.2 billion in American taxpayer money spent by the United States Army on contractors in Iraq has found that almost none of the payments followed federal rules and that in some cases, contracts worth millions of dollars were paid for despite little or no record of what, if anything, was received.

The audit also found a sometimes stunning lack of accountability in the way the United States military spent some $1.8 billion in seized or frozen Iraqi assets, which in the early phases of the conflict were often doled out in stacks or pallets of cash. The audit was released Thursday in tandem with a Congressional hearing on the payments.

U.S. Widens Net on Pricing of Food Supplies for G.I.'s By ERIC SCHMITT and ANDREW MARTIN Published: October 18, 2007 New York Times

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 - Federal agents are investigating whether several large food companies charged the government excessively high prices for supplies to American troops in Iraq and Kuwait, administration officials said Wednesday.