by Ben Vernia | April 5th, 2011
On April 5, the Department of Justice announced that Verizon Communications had agreed to pay $93.5 million to resolve allegations of fraud involving GSA contracts. According to DOJ’s press release:
Verizon Communications Inc. has paid the United States $93,525,410.96 in order to resolve allegations that the company overcharged the General Services Administration (GSA) on invoices dealing with government-wide voice and data telecommunications services contracts, the Justice Department announced today.
Verizon subsidiary MCI Communications Services Inc. dba Verizon Business Services is alleged to have invoiced GSA for a variety of federal, state and local taxes and surcharges in violation of the contracts or applicable regulations in connection with the FTS2001 and FTS2001 Bridge contracts. The department’s joint investigation with GSA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that Verizon and MCI submitted false claims under the contracts for the reimbursement of property taxes, common carrier recovery charges and unallowable surcharges, charges that are not directly reimbursable under the FTS2001 contracts.
The government disclosed that the suit was brought by two whistleblowers – an individual and a company, but did not identify the relator’s share of the recovery.
