If you got an aggressive email from the SBA earlier this month requesting an awful lot of documentation and information in relation to your 8(a) Program participation—you are far from alone. SBA actually sent this December 5th email to about 4300 current and past 8(a) Program participants. And if you too found yourself reading and rereading SBA’s specific requests trying to determine exactly what the SBA is looking for—but to no avail—you are again far from alone. Now, we at SmallGovCon don’t have all the answers or any insider knowledge. But we offer you these five tips for surviving the 8(a) audit—based on our vast experience with the fundamentals of legal language interpretation and our expertise with the 8(a) Program regulations and standard operating procedures.
Continue readingTag Archives: fraud
SBA Inspector General Warns of ‘Widespread’ Fraud in COVID-19 Loan Program
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of the Inspector General, potential fraudsters have obtained $250 million in federal funds intended to help businesses survive the impact of COVID-19.
The Inspector General also identified $45.6 million in potentially duplicate payments and warned that with well over $220 billion left to give out, rapid changes were needed.
Continue readingSmallGovCon Week In Review: April 10-14, 2017
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time on the West Coast lately: I started the week in San Diego as a speaker at the APTAC’s Spring 2017 Training Conference and after a few days in the office will be heading back on the road to present at the 2017 SAME Small Business Symposium in Bremerton, WA. If you will be attending please come say hello!
Before I head back West, it’s time for our weekly look at comings and goings in the world of federal government contracting. In this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review, a business owner pleads guilty to defrauding more than 1,000 would-be contractors in a sleazy registration scheme, the GSA’s Alliant 2 unrestricted contract is moving forward, a government official goes on the record as stating that some contractors are “kicking butt,” and much more.
SmallGovCon Week In Review: March 13-17, 2017
March Madness is here! I hope your brackets are doing well. So far, mine haven’t been “busted,” but Notre Dame looked mighty shaky in that opening-round win over Princeton.
While I get ready for tomorrow’s games with my Duke Blue Devils and Kansas Jayhawks, I’m keeping an eye on the latest and greatest (or not so great) in government contracting. In this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review, the GAO releases a major report on the state of government contracting, an IT contractor will pay $45 million to resolve claims of overcharging the government, the SBA proposes to terminate a nonmanufacturer rule class waiver, and more.
New FAR Rule Restricts Employee Confidentiality Agreements
The FAR Council has added a new provision to the FAR to restrict the permissible terms of employee confidentiality agreements.
Effective January 19, 2017, contractors wishing to do business with the federal government will need to certify that they do not limit the ability of their employees to report waste, fraud, or abuse to appropriate government officials.
Contractor Ineligible For Reimbursement of Contract Tainted By Kickbacks
The ongoing federal movement to prevent fraud waste, and abuse in the contracting process continues. And as demonstrated in a recent federal court decision, the government retains its ability to refuse to pay a procurement contract tainted by fraud.
In the recent decision of Laguna Construction Company, Inc. v. Ashton Carter, Appeal Number 15-1291, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed that a procurement contract tainted by violations of the Anti-Kickback Act is voidable under the doctrine of prior material breach.
Small Business Fraud: Guilty Plea In Major SBA Pass-Through Case
A former owner and officer of a large business has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges stemming from an illegal pass-through scheme.
According to a Department of Justice press release, Thomas Harper not only conspired to evade limitations on subcontracting, but obstructed justice during a SBA size protest investigation of his company’s relationship with a putative small businesses.