by Andrew Murray | January 16th, 2020
The Department of Justice announced the settlement on December 30, 2019. The defendant, LaForge & Budd Construction Company, Inc., was accused of submitting false claims the the U.S. Army. The Press Release states:
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In 2010, LaForge, a Kansas company, entered into a contract to perform work on a dam on Lake George, at the Fort Sill Army Post in Lawton, Oklahoma. The work included raising the elevation of the dam and required LaForge to perform the work in accordance with the plans and specifications provided in the contract. The United States alleges LaForge submitted false claims for progress payments for work done on the dam’s embankment. More specifically, LaForge represented that the fill it placed in the embankment of the Dam complied with the specifications, terms, and conditions of the contract when, according to the government’s allegations, unsatisfactory materials such as pieces of concrete, concrete rubble, and metal rebar were placed in the embankment. On April 12, 2019, the United States filed an action against LaForge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, No. CIV-19-336-G.
To resolve these allegations, LaForge agreed to pay $3,000,000 to the United States.
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