by Ben Vernia | April 7th, 2010
On April 6, the Department of Justice announced that Learning Tree International, Inc., had agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle allegations that the company had submitted false claims to the General Services Administration. According to DOJ’s press release the company paid:
to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act when it improperly invoiced federal agencies in advance for information technology training courses and kept federal funds for training courses that were never actually provided, the Justice Department announced today.
Under its contract with the General Services Administration (“GSA”), Learning Tree sells information technology training courses to the federal government in multi-course packages known as “vouchers” or “passports.” To prevent the United States from paying for training services that are not actually rendered, the contract specifically requires that Learning Tree invoice the government only after services are provided.
The settlement resolves allegations that Learning Tree knowingly invoiced federal agencies in advance for multi-course training packages before employees of the purchasing agencies had attended the full number of courses available under each. The government further alleged that upon expiration of the training packages, Learning Tree retained federal funds that the company received in connection with unused courses without providing a refund or credit. As a result, Learning Tree received federal funds for training courses that were not, in fact, provided.
The case was apparently developed by the GSA, and was not brought by a qui tam whistleblower.
