CACI faces potential debarment

CACI International Inc. could be barred from future federal contracts, following revelations that Army officials hired prison interrogators for Iraq from CACI using a computer services contract that the Interior Department administered.

Now General Services Administration officials have requested additional information from company officials and could potentially debar the firm, CACI officials said.

According to company officials, the delivery orders in question came through GSA Schedule 70, a contract designated for information technology purchases, and were issued by Interior officials at Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

J.P. "Jack" London, CACI's chief executive officer, said that the company is cooperating with the government to answer questions. London said in a written statement that if company officials used the GSA contract improperly, "we will take immediate action to rectify the situation."

CACI acquired the contract when it acquired the assets of Premier Technology Group Inc. in May 2003, according to CACI's statement.

The Project On Government Oversight (POGO), a watchdog group, said that the attention to CACI is politically driven because the Iraqi prison abuse scandal is making headlines. Other contractors have far worse records and should be the focus of GSA's attention, said POGO's executive director, Danielle Brian.

The group's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database ranks companies based on the amounts they have paid in fines, penalties and settlements of misconduct allegations. General Electric Corp. tops the list with $990 million, more than double the amount paid by Lockheed Martin Corp., in second place at $426 million. CACI is not in the top 10 in POGO's rankings.

Debarment could be devastating for CACI. The company reported revenues of $288.4 million in the quarter that ended March 31, a 30 percent increase over the same quarter last year. London, in an interview conducted before the Iraqi prison scandal came to light, attributed the bulk of the company's success to its focus on national security and other government business.

"Sometimes you count your blessings as you go along, and this time all of our business units were strong," he said in the earlier interview. "My Lord, the defense, the national security, the intelligence work, our knowledge management and network services, it was strong, strong, strong."

He predicted then that CACI could bring in $1.5 billion in sales in its next fiscal year, which will start July 1.

"It's sort of a coming together of the strategy and areas that turned out to be a significant national priority," he said of the reasons for growth. "Those areas are going to be quite robust, highly emphasized as we go forward. I don't see any reduction in those things for at least 18 to 24 months."