Let’s get the ball rolling here with a clichéd look at procurement fraud. Most government contractors firmly believe that as long as they knuckle down and keep their nose to the grindstone, they will earn their stripes and eventually make a King’s ransom in the contracting game. Occasionally though, a contractor may try to cut corners and will push the envelope and go against the grain in order to get a leg up on the competition.

While in the short term that may lead to the contractor making money hand over fist, all that glitters is not gold and eventually the long arm of the law will catch up to the scheme and make a federal case out of it. At that point, the contractor will certainly find themselves in hot water. Typically, the federal government will likely hold all the cards, and have the contractor over a barrel.

But even contractors that try to go by the book may find themselves with their feet to the fire due to actions of an employee. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and one bad egg employee can really be a fly in the ointment for an otherwise law-abiding government contractor.Continue Reading Procurement Potholes: Don’t Get Caught by a Cliché

Recently, U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Wesley Burnett of Hermosa Beach, California to 42 months in prison followed by three years supervised release for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $2.8 million in federal government contracts through the use of the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program, designed to assist disadvantaged businesses. Burnett originally pled guilty to these charges back in October of 2014.

Burnett was the owner and operator of Confederate Group LLC and Total Barrier Works (TBW). These companies maintained and installed anti-terrorist systems and vehicle-control equipment such as security barriers, bollards, gates, uninterrupted power systems (UPS) and other perimeter security anti-terrorist equipment.

From 2007 until 2014, Burnett admitted that he falsely represented to the U.S. Government that Confederate Group LLC was a “Hispanic-American Owned Business,” a “Minority Owned Business,” a “Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business” and a “Small Disadvantaged Business” in order to win federal government contracts set aside exclusively for firms in these categories. However, Burnett was neither a member of any of these racial or ethnic minority groups nor a disabled veteran nor member of a socially disadvantaged group. These false representations resulted in Confederate Group LLC receiving approximately $534,315 in unjustified contract awards.Continue Reading Business Owner Sentenced for Fraudulent “Pass-Through” Contract Scheme