A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Armor Group North America Inc (AGNA) who is accused of submitting false claims for payment on a State Department contract to provide armed guard services at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The whistleblower will receive $1.35 million of the government's recovery.
Originally filed in September 2009, United States alleged that in 2007 and 2008, AGNA guards violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) by visiting brothels in Kabul, and that AGNA’s management knew about the guards’ activities. The settlement also resolves allegations that AGNA misrepresented the prior work experience of 38 third country national guards it had hired to guard the Embassy, and that AGNA failed to comply with certain Foreign Ownership, Control and Influence mitigation requirements on the embassy contract, and on a separate contract to provide guard services at a Naval Support Facility in Bahrain.
