U.S. Gov. Intervenes in False Claims Lawsuit Against United States Investigations Services LLC (USIS)
The government has intervened in a lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act against United States Investigations Services LLC (USIS) in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, the Department of Justice announced today. The lawsuit alleges that USIS failed to perform quality control reviews in connection with its background investigations for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
USIS was contracted with OPM to perform background investigations on individuals seeking employment with various federal agencies. The contract at issue in the lawsuit required USIS to conduct the investigatory fieldwork on each prospective applicant. It also required that a trained USIS Reviewer perform a full review of each background investigation to ensure it conformed to OPM standards before sending the file back to OPM for processing.
According to the complaint, USIS engaged in a practice known at USIS as “dumping.” Specifically, USIS used a proprietary computer software program to automatically release to OPM background investigations that had not gone through the full review process and thus were not complete. USIS allegedly dumped cases to meet revenue targets and maximize its profits. The lawsuit alleges that USIS concealed this practice from OPM and improperly billed OPM for background investigations it knew were not performed in accordance with the contract.
The lawsuit was originally filed by Blake Percival, a former employee of USIS, under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. The False Claims Act allows private parties with knowledge of fraud against the government to sue on behalf of the government and share in the recovery.
The False Claims Act also permits the government to investigate the allegations made in the whistleblower’s complaint and decide whether to intervene in the lawsuit.
The Chanler Group, in association with the Hirst Law Group, represents whistleblowers who take action under the False Claims Act to report fraud committed against the federal and state governments. We have years of experience representing whistleblower clients who expose every kind of fraud against the government, including health care fraud, contract fraud, and tax fraud. Read more about our expertise in False Claims Act cases and how you can take action.