A contractor demonstrates a restraining technique during a training session for the Iraqi police in 2008. Staff Sgt. James Wagner / Defense Department file photo
Justice Accuses DynCorp of False Claims on Iraq Contract
Company denies inflating costs in State Department’s Iraqi police training.
DynCorp International, while under contract with the State Department to train police in war-torn Iraq, may have submitted inflated expense claims, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday.
In a civil complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, prosecutors alleged that the McLean, Va.-based contractor “knowingly allowed one of its main ….subcontractors to charge excessive and unsubstantiated rates for hotel lodging; translator, security guard and driving services; and overhead expenses, and included these charges in the claims it submitted under the … contract to the State Department.”
State’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs had awarded the contract in 2004 to DynCorp, a subsidiary of Delta Tucker Holdings Inc. Its execution was then investigated by the State Department inspector general, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and the Justice Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch.
The complaint citing the False Claims Act also alleged that DynCorp added its own markup to the subcontractor’s excessive charges, thereby further inflating the claims it submitted to the government.
“Companies that contract with the United States have an obligation to deal fairly and openly with the government,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Mizer. “Attempting to take advantage of the American taxpayers in times of war is a shameful abuse of this responsibility.”
The allegations in the complaint prompted a quick response from the company, which said it “looks forward” to responding in court.
“DynCorp International is disappointed with the Justice Department’s decision to commence this litigation and denies any violation of the False Claims Act or that amounts are owed under the contract or otherwise,” the company said in a statement to Government Executive. “The suit is an after-the-fact attempt to re-price certain labor and housing costs charged nearly a decade ago by a subcontractor in Iraq which was recommended to DynCorp International by the US government.”
Spokeswoman Mary Lawrence added that the firm stopped doing business with the subcontractor many years ago and that “none of the allegations relate to any ongoing or even recent contracting activities, and none of the allegations challenge the quality of the services DynCorp International provided or the dedication of the [thousands of] DynCorp International men and women who supported the United States.”