Gardena-based info tech companies to pay $5.8 Million for Misrepresentations Relating to Small Business Status and Contract Fee Payments

Posted by CotoBlogzz

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA - En Pointe Gov. Inc., En Pointe Technologies Inc., En Pointe Technologies Sales Inc., Dominguez East Holdings LLC and Din Global Corp., all of Gardena, California, have agreed to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by falsely certifying that En Pointe Gov. Inc. was a small business in order to obtain contracts set aside for small businesses and underreporting sales under a General Services Administration (GSA) contract to avoid the payment of fees, according to announcement by the Department of Justice (DOJ)

According to court records, between 2011 and 2014, the defendants were liable for false representations that En Pointe Gov. Inc. met Small Business Administration (SBA) requirements to obtain work that was only available to small businesses.  In particular, the DOJ alleged that En Pointe Gov Inc.’s affiliation with the other defendants rendered it a non-small business and, thus, ineligible for the small business set-aside contracts it obtained.

The DOJ also alleged that defendants caused En Pointe Gov. Inc. to file false quarterly reports with the GSA between 2008 and 2015 underreporting sales made under a GSA schedule contract that allowed other federal agencies to purchase from En Pointe.  Under the terms of the contract, En Pointe was supposed to return to GSA a percentage of its sales receipts.  By allegedly misrepresenting the amount of its sales, En Pointe underpaid the fees that it owed to GSA.

The settlements resolve allegations filed in a lawsuit by Minburn Technology Group, LLC (Minburn), a Virginia company that sells information technology products and services, and Anthony Colangelo, Minburn’s managing member.  The lawsuit was filed under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private individuals to sue on behalf of the government for false claims and to share in any recovery.  The Act also allows the government to intervene and take over the action, as it did in this case.  Minburn and Mr. Colangelo will receive approximately $1.4 million.

This settlement was the result of a coordinated effort by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California and the GSA and SBA Inspector General Offices.