June 26, 2015
If anyone is still laboring under the impression that the U.S. Government will not prosecute "minor" violations of the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations (ITAR), they need to wise up. Even improper exports of handguns to people in "friendly" countries can trigger enforcement actions. And it makes no difference where in the United States the problematic exports originate.
Case in point:…
June 22, 2015
We are all too familiar with the current agency practice of taking corrective action when a protest is filed. Agencies, fearful of incurring any liability for protester’s legal fees in the event the protest is sustained, often cave in at the slightest sign of weakness in the agency record and take corrective action in lieu of fighting to defend the award decision. This can be very…
June 22, 2015
Nationwide Value Computer, Inc. protested an agency’s determination that it was not an eligible small business concern. The General Accountability Office (GAO) made short work of the protest. Why? The record showed, and Nationwide could not contest, that Nationwide represented it was not a small business in its SAM (System for Award Management) profile.
Nationwide argued…
June 22, 2015
A recent decision by the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) provides a reminder to contractors that the Government owns equipment for which it pays the contractor, and the contractor cannot sell or otherwise dispose of that equipment without the Government’s express consent. Moreover, if the contractor nevertheless sells the equipment without such consent and direction, the…
June 15, 2015
On its face, the fact that protester has the "exclusive" right to sell the product the Government wants to buy seems like a pretty good ground for a protest challenging a contract award to a competitor. But looks can be deceiving, especially if you don’t read the fine print – both in your reseller agreement and the solicitation. The recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) …
June 15, 2015
Last week a federal grand jury in Puerto Rico returned a five count indictment charging three men with a multi-million dollar Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). Justice Department Announcement.
The indictment alleges that from 2007 to 2014, Ivan Rosa-Colon, Jose Rosa-Colon and Torres Louis Enrique…
June 15, 2015
Offerors seeking to challenge unreasonable Government actions in connection with a federal government procurement generally find the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to be a valuable forum for review. However, a recent GAO decision reiterates the limits on GAO’s willingness to hear certain issues, specifically that GAO generally will not entertain protests challenging an agency’s…
June 8, 2015
As previously discussed here, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (the Act), made two important changes for Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs). First, the Act authorized certain sole source awards to WOSBs, and second, the Act deleted the prior authorization for WOSBs to self-certify their status and eligibility for award. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has now…
June 8, 2015
Reciting a common refrain, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has once again upheld an agency’s broad discretion to determine its own procurement and solicitation needs. In its recent decision, Financial Asset Management Systems, Inc., B-409722.9 (Apr. 24, 2015), GAO provides an example of the latitude the "reasonableness" standard gives procuring agencies with respect to drafting…
June 8, 2015
The General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released its semiannual Report to the Congress detailing its efforts and successes in the important work of detecting fraud and mismanagement within the GSA’s programs and operations. The report, which is required, covers the period between October 1, 2014 and March 31, 2015.
During this period, the…
June 1, 2015
On May 26, 2015, Abel Carreon entered a guilty plea to one count of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme involving surety bonds and government contracts, the Department of Justice just announced. Court documents state that between 2005 and 2011 Carreon defrauded the United States and government contractors, through his company Tripartite Escrow…
June 1, 2015
Everyone knows the old phrase, "if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and swims like a duck, it must be a duck." Something akin to this must have crossed Lori Skaggs’s mind when she applied for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 8(a) BD Program for socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses on behalf of her construction company, Arrow S. Company, Inc.…
June 26, 2015
If anyone is still laboring under the impression that the U.S. Government will not prosecute "minor" violations of the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations (ITAR), they need to wise up. Even improper exports of handguns to people in "friendly" countries can trigger enforcement actions. And it makes no difference where in the United States the problematic exports originate.
Case in point:…
June 22, 2015
We are all too familiar with the current agency practice of taking corrective action when a protest is filed. Agencies, fearful of incurring any liability for protester’s legal fees in the event the protest is sustained, often cave in at the slightest sign of weakness in the agency record and take corrective action in lieu of fighting to defend the award decision. This can be very…
June 22, 2015
Nationwide Value Computer, Inc. protested an agency’s determination that it was not an eligible small business concern. The General Accountability Office (GAO) made short work of the protest. Why? The record showed, and Nationwide could not contest, that Nationwide represented it was not a small business in its SAM (System for Award Management) profile.
Nationwide argued…
June 22, 2015
A recent decision by the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) provides a reminder to contractors that the Government owns equipment for which it pays the contractor, and the contractor cannot sell or otherwise dispose of that equipment without the Government’s express consent. Moreover, if the contractor nevertheless sells the equipment without such consent and direction, the…
June 15, 2015
On its face, the fact that protester has the "exclusive" right to sell the product the Government wants to buy seems like a pretty good ground for a protest challenging a contract award to a competitor. But looks can be deceiving, especially if you don’t read the fine print – both in your reseller agreement and the solicitation. The recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) …
June 15, 2015
Last week a federal grand jury in Puerto Rico returned a five count indictment charging three men with a multi-million dollar Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). Justice Department Announcement.
The indictment alleges that from 2007 to 2014, Ivan Rosa-Colon, Jose Rosa-Colon and Torres Louis Enrique…
June 15, 2015
Offerors seeking to challenge unreasonable Government actions in connection with a federal government procurement generally find the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to be a valuable forum for review. However, a recent GAO decision reiterates the limits on GAO’s willingness to hear certain issues, specifically that GAO generally will not entertain protests challenging an agency’s…
June 8, 2015
As previously discussed here, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (the Act), made two important changes for Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs). First, the Act authorized certain sole source awards to WOSBs, and second, the Act deleted the prior authorization for WOSBs to self-certify their status and eligibility for award. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has now…
June 8, 2015
Reciting a common refrain, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has once again upheld an agency’s broad discretion to determine its own procurement and solicitation needs. In its recent decision, Financial Asset Management Systems, Inc., B-409722.9 (Apr. 24, 2015), GAO provides an example of the latitude the "reasonableness" standard gives procuring agencies with respect to drafting…
June 8, 2015
The General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released its semiannual Report to the Congress detailing its efforts and successes in the important work of detecting fraud and mismanagement within the GSA’s programs and operations. The report, which is required, covers the period between October 1, 2014 and March 31, 2015.
During this period, the…
June 1, 2015
On May 26, 2015, Abel Carreon entered a guilty plea to one count of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme involving surety bonds and government contracts, the Department of Justice just announced. Court documents state that between 2005 and 2011 Carreon defrauded the United States and government contractors, through his company Tripartite Escrow…
June 1, 2015
Everyone knows the old phrase, "if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and swims like a duck, it must be a duck." Something akin to this must have crossed Lori Skaggs’s mind when she applied for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 8(a) BD Program for socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses on behalf of her construction company, Arrow S. Company, Inc.…
