According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington, HMIS’ management was aware of and failed to prevent inflated labor hours being charged to the DOE, including payment for labor hours for which HMIS employees were not scheduled or assigned sufficient work to perform.
A joint venture composed of Leidos, Centerra, and Parsons, HMIS was awarded a $4 billion contract by the DOE in 2019 to provide mission-essential infrastructure and site services at Hanford.
Whistleblower suit: The settlement stems from two complaints filed by a HMIS employee under the False Claims Act, which requires the federal government to investigate allegations and then decide whether to intervene and take over the action or to decline to intervene and allow the whistleblower, referred to as a “relator,” to sue on behalf of the United States. The two complaints were filed by the same…
PROCUREMENT & EXPENDITURE (STOPPING KICKBACKS)
Procurement fraud usually involves inflated invoices or “fictitious” vendors.
- The Three-Way Match: Never pay an invoice unless you have matched the Purchase Order (PO), the Delivery Note (signed), and the Supplier Invoice.
- Vendor Master File Review: Review your vendor list annually. Look for suppliers with the same bank details or physical addresses as your employees.
- Dual Authorization: Implement a “Two-to-Sign” rule for all EFT payments above a certain threshold (e.g., R5,000).
- No “Cashing” of Checks: If you still use physical checks, strictly prohibit “Cash” as a payee and store blank checks in a dual-lock safe.