A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against Triple Canopy Inc.
The allegations arose from a lawsuit that claimed Triple Canopy Inc submitted false claims for payment to the Department of Defense for unqualified security guards stationed in Iraq.
According to the Department of Justice, allegedly Triple Canopy knowingly billed the United States for security guards who could not pass contractually required firearms proficiency tests. The tests were designed by the Army to ensure that the guards hired to protect U.S. and allied personnel were capable of firing their assigned weapons safely and accurately. In addition, allegedly Triple Canopy concealed the guards’ inability to satisfy the firearms testing requirements by creating false test scorecards that Triple Canopy was required to maintain for government review, in an effort to induce the government to pay for the unqualified guards.
Triple Canopy contracts with the government to provide private security protection forces for U.S. government and allied personnel abroad. The settlement stems from a 2009 contract for security services at Al Asad Airbase in Iraq.
Reportedly, the government’s claims were based on a whistleblower suit filed by a former employee of Triple Canopy in 2011. The whistleblowers' share of the settlement will be $500,000.
“Contractors must be held accountable for their actions, especially when the safety of government personnel is at stake,” said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, where the suit was filed. “This settlement should remind contractors of the high value we place on safeguarding our personnel abroad.”
