by Ben Vernia | February 18th, 2014
On February 12, the Department of Justice announced that MPRI, Inc., an Army contractor in Afghanistan, had agreed to pay $3.2 million to settle False Claims Act allegations originally brought by a whistleblower. According to DOJ’s press release:
MPRI Inc. has agreed to pay $3.2 million to resolve allegations that it submitted false labor charges on a contract to support the Army in Afghanistan, the Justice Department announced today. MPRI is a Chantilly, Virginia-based company.
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The government alleged that MPRI billed for employees who had not worked because they had been granted leave and were out of the country. The alleged false billing occurred between March 2005 and October 2010.Under its contract with the Army, MPRI was required to provide support to the Army in its efforts to re-design and build from scratch a new Afghan Defense Sector that would establish an Afghan national security system suitable for a modern Western military. Among other things, MPRI was required to provide support for program and financial management, development and implementation of core systems for the Afghan Ministry of Defense and General Staff, intermediate Commands, and sustaining institutions, training in logistics, acquisitions, installation management and intelligence.
DOJ announced that the whistleblower, a former employee of MPRI, will receive $576,000 (an 18% relator’s share).
