Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Contractor Settles Double Billing Discovery for $1 Million

FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations) limit the amount of rent or lease costs paid to related parties that Government contractors can claim under their contracts. FAR 31.205-36(b)(3) states that:
Charges in the nature of rent for property between any divisions, subsidiaries, or organizations under common control, to the extent that they do not exceed the normal costs of ownership, such as depreciation, taxes, insurance, facilities capital cost of money, and maintenance, are allowable.
We've written extensively on these limitations in past postings. See, for example, Rent Paid to Related Parties but we continue to find and hear about examples where contractors use bases other than cost of ownership when applying related party rental/lease payments to their Government contracts.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department announced a settlement wherein a Michigan Government contractor (and two of its employees) will pay back $1 million to resolve allegations that it did not comply with this related party rent/lease limitation. In addition, the Contractor and two of its employees are prevented from bidding on federal awards and contracts for the next three years. The company is also required to maintain an ethics and compliance program and retain a Corporate Ethics Monitor to review and report on the company's compliance with Government contracting requirements.

According to the Justice Department, GS Engineering, Inc. (GSE) double-billed the Government by fully depreciating certain data acquisition equipment, charging that depreciation to Government contracts, then transferring the same equipment to a related company at lease rates that exceeded the cost of ownership. A significant cost of ownership on most leased equipment is depreciation. GSE did this for eight years before a DCAA (Defense Contract Audit Agency) audit disclosed the practice and brought it to a halt.

This area is one in which DCAA has identified as a high audit risk area. If you are claiming rental/lease payments on your Government contracts, expect auditor queries into such payments.


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