Contract fraud and gifts for government employee are a major no-no. The federal government may struggle to call out contractors for delayed schedules and scope creep. But one thing they can find and prosecute is contract fraud – like bid rigging. They also fight timesheet theft like a boss too. One military contractor pleaded guilty last week for rigging bids on military contracts in not one, but two states.
John “Mark” Leveritt pleaded guilty for rigging his bids for five years – May 2013 to April 2018. It’s hard to drive up costs without competition, so allegedly, Leveritt conspired with others to create a false impression of more competition. Leveritt secured government payments exceeding $17.5 million for seven contracting bids for work performed for Red River Army Depot, TX and U.S. Contracting Command, MI.
Leveritt admitted to falsely reporting himself as an employee of one business in order to gain an advantage for set aside contracts. According to the DOJ release, he also admitted to providing a government gift employee with, “tickets to a 2011 World Series game, tickets to two college football games, two expense-paid family vacations to Las Vegas, donations to youth sports teams coached by the government employee and approximately 100 meals at restaurants.” Last time I checked, World Series tickets cost more that the $20 limit.
Leveritt faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine. Government contracting can be frustrating, but no one finds it humorous when people seem to take advantage of the system. The reality is that when the cost for bids go up, the American taxpayer is the one to foot the bill.
“U.S. taxpayers deserve to know that the government contracting process is not subverted through collusion,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Bid rigging undermines the competitive process, wastes taxpayer dollars and deprives businesses that follow the rules of the right to fair competition. Investigating and prosecuting this case and others involving government contracting is a top priority for the Department of Justice and all members of the Procurement Collusion Strike Force.”
“Rigging bids undermines the benefits of competition and takes money out of the pockets of taxpayers,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The public deserves a level playing field when doing business with the government. The FBI, hand in hand with our law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate those who corrupt the systems established to protect American citizens from this type of fraud.”
“Bid rigging disrupts the government contracting process and leads to waste and unfair bid competition,” said Special Agent-in-Charge L. Scott Moreland of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division’s Major Procurement Fraud Field Office. “This guilty plea demonstrates how CID’s highly-trained special agents in our fraud unit, matched with other federal partnerships, aids in combating and uncovering fraud, deception, bribery and other criminal acts.”
