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Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Thad McBride co-authored an article for Compliance & Ethics Professional magazine outlining best practices for conducting effective internal compliance investigations. Thad co-authored the article with Kate Garfinkel, Vice President and Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer at Alcoa Corporation.

As the article states, “A strong internal investigation process can make the difference between identifying and addressing a problem early on or letting it fester into an issue that becomes a legal liability and reputational crisis … Internal compliance investigations and reviews, when conducted in a confidential and professional manner, ensure that a company can adequately address compliance issues.”

Continue Reading Thad McBride Co-authors Article with Alcoa VP on Best Practices for Internal Investigations

On March 2, 2015, new anti-human trafficking rules applicable to government contractors went into effect.  (New requirements applicable to Department of Defense (DoD) contractors, available here, went into effect on January 29, 2015.)  While government contracts have been subject to anti-human trafficking provisions for some time, these revised requirements, which implement Executive Order 13627 and parts of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, include a new certification provision, mandatory reporting obligations, involvement of suspending and debarring officials in the review of reported violations, full cooperation with agency investigations, and publication of violations on FAPIIS, among other changes.

It is important that contractors recognize that all new contracts are subject to many of these new requirements, available here, and ID/IQ contracts will be modified to include them in future orders.  If they have not already done so, contractors should promptly determine which of the new requirements they are subject to and, if necessary, revise compliance policies and procedures accordingly.

Continue Reading Contractor Alert: New Anti-Human Trafficking Rule

Another chapter in the story of one of the most brazen procurement fraud schemes in United States history came to a close on Monday, December 15, 2014, when Eyak Technology LLC (“EyakTek”) and Eyak Services LLC (“ESL”) agreed to pay $2.5 million and relinquish all rights to any additional payments to resolve alleged False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Act violations.

Between 2005 and 2011, EyakTek, an Alaska Native-owned corporation, held the Technology for Infrastructure, Geospatial, and Environmental Requirements (“TIGER”) contract, a $1 billion prime contract with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. It was alleged that throughout the term of the TIGER contract, EyakTek’s former director of contracts, Harold F. Babb, directed subcontracts to vendors that paid him illegal kickbacks. EyakTek and ESL, according to the DOJ, “submitted invoices to the Army Corp that included charges for work that was never performed by the subcontractors and lacked internal controls to detect the improper charges.” The government alleges that EyakTek may have been overpaid nearly $30 million as a result of the misconduct.

Continue Reading Government Contractor Reaches Global Settlement to Resolve Procurement Fraud Allegations