Spokane, Washington – TriMark USA, LLC of Mansfield, Massachusetts, has agreed to pay $48.5 million to resolve allegations that its subsidiaries, TriMark Gill Marketing and TriMark Gill Group, Inc. (collectively, TriMark), improperly manipulated federal small business set-aside contracts around the country, announced Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, and Carla B. Freedman, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York. A former TriMark executive in charge of the company’s government business, Kimberley Rimsza of Phoenix, Arizona, has agreed to pay an additional $100,000 as an individual civil penalty for her conduct in connection with the scheme. The settlement constitutes the largest-ever False Claims Act recovery based on allegations of small business contracting fraud.
“This case demonstrates a shocking disregard for fair competition, small business rules, and integrity in government contracting,” said United States Attorney Waldref. “We insisted that both TriMark and former company executive Kimberley Rimsza admit and accept responsibility for their conduct, which included improperly obtaining contracts that were meant for legitimate small businesses, and affirmatively concealing TriMark’s role in the sham contracts. The fact that the money they were stealing was intended for service-disabled veterans is simply unconscionable. Conduct of this kind is antithetical to a safe and strong Eastern...
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