Improperly obtaining contracts that are meant for service-disabled, veteran-owned businesses—and concealing it—is not a recipe for success in government contracting. The United States Department of Justice settled a case against a foodservice and restaurant equipment supplier. Under the terms of the settlement, the contractor paid $48.5 million, the “largest-ever False Claims Act recovery based on allegations of small business fraud,” of which $21.6 million is restitution. Additionally, a former executive who managed the foodservice company’s government contracts, was fined $100,000 as an individual civil penalty. The whistleblower was a company called Fox Unlimited Enterprises, LLP. For reporting government contracting fraud, the relator received 22.5% of the settlement, just over $10.9 million.
According to the settlement agreement, three related foodservice government contracting companies played puppet master to several service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB) in order to access contracts set aside for these types of small businesses. TriMark USA, its wholly-owned subsidiary Gill Group, and an unincorporated division called Gill Marketing offer various types of foodservice equipment, restaurant equipment, and supply services to corporations and government installations. Gill Marketing worked with four economically-disadvantaged small businesses at various points during 2013-2021 to obtain set-aside government contracts forwhich Gill Marketing was not...
Amid a swirl of public speculation and growing concern, the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) has firmly rejected claims that it spent a staggering GH9 million on a turkey berry production project, de...