Defense contractors that knowingly bill the government for materials that have not been supplied or for materials that are defective and do not meet government specifications.
Perhaps one of the most startling, infuriating, and unfortunately, common types of fraud that defense contractors commit is knowingly providing substandard or defective products, or not providing the promised products at all, yet billing the government for them.
When the government pays a defense contractor to manufacture military equipment, the government’s goal is to have the most state-of-the-art equipment available while ensuring that the equipment is as safe as possible for the troops who use it. For this reason, government defense contracts for munitions, vehicles, other equipment, and even clothing often contain specifications regarding the materials and component parts used in the product’s manufacture.
Defense contractors are bound to provide the goods and services promised under the terms of the contract. But too often, they cut corners by using inferior materials and component parts and do not report this fact to the government. In some cases, contractors fail to provide adequate quality control and testing of the products that they manufacture. This results in inferior and defective products and services that they then sell to the government anyway.
Unless caught and prosecuted for defense contract fraud, defense contractors stand to illegally profit from selling substandard goods and services to the military at the expense of taxpayers. Even worse, such defective products can compromise soldiers’ safety.
Such defense contractor fraud on the government is unacceptable. Whistleblowers who are aware of such outrageous misconduct can save the government potentially millions of taxpayer dollars and possibly help protect the safety of our troops overseas by bringing a False Claims Act case on behalf of the government. Whistleblowers are entitled to a portion of any settlement or recovery that the government collects.
