Cyber Vendor to Pay $1M Settlement for Bid Rigging
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ThunderCat Technologies is based in Reston.
A local tech company is paying $1 million to settle claims related to rigging the bid process.
ThunderCat Technology, a Reston, Virginia-based tech firm offering big data analytics, cybersecurity and data center infrastructure services, solicited "inflated third-party bids," also known as "loser bids," for five contracts between September 2008 and February 2012, according to the General Services Administration's Office of the Inspector General.
ThunderCat's payment will settle claims under the False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Act and the Procurement Integrity Act for six contracts in total; five were awarded by the Homeland Security Department for U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the last by GSA.
In addition to submitting "loser bids," ThunderCat offered CBP employees a 10 percent cut on profits from the contract if they provided the company with government cost estimates prior to ThunderCat submitting its proposal.