DOJ and Contractor Fraud = qui tam contract fraud suits

[L. Coyote]

DOJ and Contractor Fraud
BY Scott Horton - Nov 4, 2007
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/11/hbc-90001593

Back on June 29, I sat through some hearings before the House Judiciary Committee in which plaintiff’s counsel in a series of qui tam contract fraud suits described their futile efforts to get the Justice Department to investigate cases in which contractors were fleecing the taxpayers of tens of millions of dollars. A senior Justice official then responded with a series of highly improbable excuses for the Department’s inaction which left eyes rolling in the room. A former Justice lawyer seated near me, who now works with whistleblowers said “Most people following this are going to get the impression that the Justice Department is not interested in rooting out fraud. Rather it’s interested in shielding the fraudsters. And most people are right.”

Today’s San Antonio Express-News carries a story which fit perfectly into the pattern established at that hearing.

Barrington “Barry” Godfrey of Houston tried to get mega-contractor KBR to quit overcharging the government for thousands of troops he said the company never fed. He alleges he was forced out for raising the issue, and that the Justice Department tried unsuccessfully to keep his allegations secret ...

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In prior conflicts, the Justice Department was a guard dog against contract fraud in war time. Today it’s a guard dog, alright. But the interests it protects certainly aren’t those of the public ................