(2005-06-28)
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Turner Construction Company will pay the United States $6.6 million to settle allegations that it submitted false claims, the Justice Department announced today. The New York, N.Y.-based company cooperated in a Department investigation into information that Turner had received credits for bonds on dozens of federal contracts without passing the credits along to the federal government. Agencies participating in the settlement agreement include the Justice Department, the General Services Administration (GSA), the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA), and the Department of the Navy.
The contracts in question include one for the construction of the VA’s Boston Medical Center in Massachusetts, one with the GSA for the construction of a courthouse in Islip, New York, numerous Navy contracts, and several other construction contracts or subcontracts with these and other agencies.
Turner was required by its contracts with the government to reduce the amount it sought for bond payments or to refund to the government the credits it received from its bonding company, AON Risk Services. As part of the settlement, Turner will also forfeit claims valued at $2.8 million under contracts with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of the Navy.
“Federal contractors will be held accountable when submitting false claims,” said Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This settlement is an example of the Department’s commitment to ensuring that federal funds are protected from fraud and abuse.”
The settlement resulted from an investigation by the Civil Division of the Justice Department, with assistance from the General Services Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General.
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