Whistleblower Earns Share In $1M Settlement With US Contractor

Arlington VA

04 October, 2021

5:17 PM

Description

ARLINGTON, VA — A federal contractor with offices in Arlington agreed to pay the U.S. government $1,043,475 for improperly billing a number of federal agencies in violation of the False Claims Act, according to a U.S. Justice Department release. A former employee who blew the whistle on the contractor will receive $157,220 as part of the False Claims Act settlement. To encourage potential whistleblowers, the act allows private parties to sue for false claims on behalf of the U.S. government and receive a portion of the settlement. "This settlement underscores the important role that whistleblowers continue to serve in protecting critical taxpayer resources," said Raj Parekh, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in a release. "We encourage individuals who uncover suspected misconduct regarding federal contracts to come forward and report their observations." Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc., previously known as Airbus Defense and Space, Inc. (ADSI), was accused of including an unapproved cost rate the company was not entitled to on contract proposals it submitted to U.S. agencies from January 2016 through January 2017. In addition, ADSI faced accusations that it had charged additional fees on certain government contracts during 2013 through 2020. ADSI billed the government its own fees as well as those of its affiliates and the fees it had paid its affiliates for parts ADSI had acquired, according to court documents. The federal government claimed that ADSI had not accurately disclosed the affiliate fees. ADSI was also accused of charging a third-party contractor an "excessive monthly fee" to store a radar system it had bought in support of a U.S. Navy contract, according to court documents. Prosecutors said ADSI passed along the full storage charge to the U.S. Navy, omitting that it had paid only part of those storage fees. "Government contractors have a responsibility to bill the government both accurately and transparently," said acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department's Civil Division, in a release. "Companies that knowingly inflate their costs or otherwise improperly bill the government will be held accountable." Since the accusations against ADSI were resolved by settlement, there was no determination of liability.