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We have a significant responsibility to the American Taxpayers to avoid ___, ___, and ___. Fraud, Waste, and Abuse. ____ can constitute any intentional deception designed to deprive the United States unlawfully of something of value or secure from the United States for an individual benefit, privilege, allowance, or consideration to which he or she is not entitled. Fraud ___ must be knowingly submitted. Must have actual knowledge that the claim is false. Must act in deliberate ignorance of whether it is true or false. Must act in reckless disregard of the truth or falsify. Fraud _________ deals with types of contracts that MUST BE IN WRITING in order to be upheld or enforced by the courts. Statute of Frauds Covers almost any type of fraudulent claim paid from the United States Treasury. The amount of dollars claimed is not relevant, guilt is guilt. This can come from any request for payment from the Government that is based on a lie. Each lie, or fraudulent claim, can be prosecuted separately. Penalty is not more than 5 years or no more than $10,000 on each claim. Jeopardy attaches when the Government issues a voucher authorizing disbursement. Criminal False Claims Act Civil counterpart to the Criminal False Claims Act. Can be taken in addition to the criminal action by the Government to recover actual damages. Liability is no less than $5K or more than $10K PLUS 3 times the actual $ damages that the Government sustains. Civil False Claims Act Requires only a "preponderance of truth". Liability for damages begins when the Government makes payment on the claim. Covers whistleblowers. Civil False Claims Act ____ relates to the one who has to prove the claim. Burden of Proof If you bring the claim, then you have the burden to show the _____. Evidence A whistleblower claim is call ______ in the Civil False Claims Act. Qui Tam A plaintiff, as one who sues as much for the state as for himself or herself. Qui Tam This is part of the Civil False Claims Act and authorizes individuals to the act as AGs and bring a suit in the name of the U.S. government. The citizen meets with the US attorney and a suit is filed citing the citizen as the plaintiff on behalf of the US Govt against a corporation or other alleged wrongdoer. The government has 60 days to join the suit, if not, the relator conducts the suit on behalf of the U.S. Government. Qui Tam Suits The person filing on behalf of the government must be the orignal source or relator, the one who determines that there is a wrongdoing FIRST. The action cannot be based on anything that has already been publicly disclosed. If the wrongful thing is known in the public forum then it can't be Qui Tam. Realtors (original source) plaintiff's are entitled to a portion of any recoveries. Qui Tam Suits The Qui Tam suit is brought under the ____ False Claims Act. Civil The Government has ___ days to join the Qui Tam suit after it is filed or if not, the Relator conducts the suit on the behalf of the United States. 60 If a contractor is unable to support any part of his claim and it is determined that such inability is attributable to misrepresentation of fact or fraud on the part of the contractor, he shall be liable to the Government for an amount equal to such unsupported part of his claim in addition to all costs to the Government attributable to the cost of reviewing said part of his claim. Contract Disputes Act Civil remedy, & penalties for violations by the contractor are: Forfeits the claimed amount, liable for any claim that can't be supported due to fraud, and all costs of reviewing the fraudulent claim. The agency cannot resolve the suspected fraud claim. The fraudulent claim must be referred to the appropriate investigative agencies. The KO has an affirmative duty to report the fraud. SOL on this is 6 years of the fraudulent act. Contract Disputes Act Criminal remedy, applies to Big contracts >$1M. Applicable to Prime and Subcontractors within the US. Penalties include jail up to 10 years and or $1M. Also allows fines of: $5M for offenses involving a conscious or reckless risk of serious personal injury, $5M if the governments loss is >$500K US, or $10M for multiple counts. Also extends the SOL to 7 years instead of 6 in CDA. Major Fraud Act of 1988 Civil remedy, Contractor gives up all claims to a contract, even the part where he/she didn't attempt to steal. Sole and exclusive jurisdiction assigned to the court of Federal Claims. The court has ruled that once fraud under a Government contract has been committed and proven, then All claims under the contract are forfeited, even the ones that are not related to the fraud. Forfeiture of Claims Act Criminal statute and is called the False Statements Act. Applies to contractor representations applied and/or required by FAR/DFAR. This includes reps & certs. Violations can be written or oral. Fraud and False Statements Act If the contractor knowingly lies about anything asked in the course of contract negotiations or administration. Penalties include fines up to $10,000 and jail up to 5 years or both. Giving a low-ball price to get the contract knowing that it can't be performed for that amount is a violation of this Act. Fraud and False Statements Act Anyone corruptly Offering or Giving something of value to a public official, defined as any federal employee, to influence an official act or influence that official to commit fraud on the United States or refrain from performing a legal duty engages in bribery. Both the offeror and the acceptor violate the law. Must show that there was quid pro quo. Bribery of Public Officials Quid pro quo means... this for that Penalties for violating this Act are: Guilty of attempting a Bribe: 3 times the amount of the bribe, jail time up ton 15 years, and may be disqualified from holding public office. Guilty of attempting a Gratuity: up to $10,000 fine per offense, and jail time up to 2 years. A contract formed based on a bribe is VOID ab initio and cannot be ratified or revived. Bribery of Public Officials Ab initio means... From the beginning This is the Criminal Conspiracy part of other Fraud acts. Conspiracy to Commit Offense If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States or to defaud the United States, or any agency thereof, in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. Conspiracy to Commit Offense or to Defraud the United States True or False, Any agreement or conspiracy in restraint of trade is illegal. True Act prohibits either offering or soliciting kickbacks on any type of Government contract or subcontract. Criminal remedies include: up to 10 years in prison plus a fine. Civil remedies include: twice the kickback amount plus $10,000 for each act, plus administratrive offset by the Contracting Officer. Also, IG can access and inspect the books and records. Also, requires the contractors to report the violations in writing. Anti-Kickback Act of 1986 Criminal remedies Act. Any agreement or conspiracy in restraint of trade is illegal. Any express or implied agreement between two or more competitors for a Government contract restricting full and open competition, violates this Act. Sherman Antitrust Act Unlawful bidding under this act includes: Bid suppression or limiting, complimentary bidding, bid rotation, bid fixing, market division. The Sherman Antitrust Act Any collusion on a potential contract is a violation. A pattern of rotation, or taking of turns is a violation. Penalties for violating this Act include: Up to $1M fine for a corporation, Up to $100,000 for an individual, and 3 years in the pokey. Sherman Antitrust Act Indications of collusive or unbalanced bidding include: qualified bidder fialing to bid for no apparent reason, certain bidders bid against other firms but not each other, frequent subcontracting to firms submitting higher bids, certain bidders consistently being the lowest offer in a certain geographic areas or pattern of rotation, no logical explanation why a firm is high on certain items, simultaneous price increases. Sherman Antitrust Act True or False, Conduct that is merely unethical in the private sector can be criminal when dealing with the government. True If a Government agency suspects that a contractor may be defrauding the Government, the facts involved are usually transmitted to one of the Four DoD investigate services: Which are? Army, Air Force, Navy, Defense. The three administrative actions within the Government's discretion to ensure that Government contracts are awarded only to responsible contractors. 1. Debarments, 2. Suspensions, & 3. Ineligibility sanctions. Apply to both companies and individuals, are initiated by a written notice, and are allowed due process in each case as provided in FAR 9.4. Debarments & Suspensions Debarments are for ____ years. 3 Suspensions are for _____ years. 1 The ____ must justify why an agency is doing business with a debarred or suspended contractor. HCA The HCA can override, in writing, a debarment or suspension if it can be sown that the buy is essential. A contractor can complete the performance of an existing contract even after debarred but no new business. Proof for debarment requires a "preponderance of evidence". You must give the contractor time to hear its defense as provided in FAR Part 9. Fundamental fairness is observed. Debarments _________ may be used pending the completion of a legal proceeding. ______ may also be implemented pending completion of an investigation. _______ are used where immediate action is required. _________ requires a "reasonable belief of fraud or wrongdoing". Indictments constitute adequate evidence to suspend. Suspensions. Contractor can be suspended for up to _____ months on limited evidence but must be lifted after that if a legal proceeding has not been initiated. 12 A suspension cannot exceed ____ months which requires an extension of the ____ 12 months plus ____ months where there is adequate evidence of fraud. 18, 12, and 6