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The government awards contracts to companies with histories of misconduct such as contract fraud and environmental, ethics, and labor violations. In the absence of a centralized federal database listing instances of misconduct, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is providing such data. We believe that it will lead to improved contracting decisions and public access to information about how the government spends hundreds of billions of taxpayer money each year on goods and services. Report an instance of misconduct »

CH2M Hill Companies, Ltd.

U.S. ex rel. Schroeder v. CH2M Hill (Hanford Time Card Fraud)

Date: 03/06/2013 (Date of Non-Prosecution Agreement)

Misconduct Type: Government Contract Fraud

Enforcement Agency: Justice

Contracting Party: Energy

Court Type: Criminal

Amount: $19,000,000

Disposition: Non-Prosecution Agreement

Synopsis: In September 2012, the U.S. government intervened in a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging CH2M Hill employees overbilled the government for the number of hours they worked at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Nuclear Site, at which CH2M Hill was managing contractor from 1999 to 2008. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2009 by Carl Schroeder, who pleaded guilty in November 2011 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government (see CH2M Hill Companies instance, “U.S. v. Schroeder (Hanford Time Card Fraud)”). In March 2013, CH2M Hill entered into a joint civil/criminal settlement, agreeing to pay $19 million ($16.55 million civil penalty; disgorgement of $1.95 million in profits; $500,000 to improve accountability systems at Hanford), enter into a three-year non-prosecution agreement, hire a corporate monitor, and cooperate with the government’s ongoing fraud investigation. CH2M Hill agreed to a statement of facts that it had committed federal criminal violations, including defrauding the government by encouraging employees to overstate the number of hours worked and submitting the falsified time cards to the Department of Energy.