DOJ Settles Iraq Contractor Whistleblower Lawsuit

By Sarah Pierce

(LEGAFI) -- The U.S. Department of Justice announced this week that it has reached an $8.7 million settlement in an Iraq contractor whistleblower lawsuit. The two former employees who brought the whistleblower lawsuit will receive up to $481,710.

DynCorp International LLC and its subcontractor, The Sandi Group (TSG), were sued by the former TSG employees in a qui tam lawsuit under the federal False Claims Act. The two employees accused TSG of seeking reimbursement for danger pay that it never actually paid out to U.S. employees working in Iraq, and accused DynCorp of inflating claims made to the government for construction costs.

“The hard work of stabilizing Iraq is challenging enough without contractors and subcontractors inflating the cost of rebuilding by making false claims at taxpayers’ expense,” said Tony West, the DOJ’s Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. “This case demonstrates that the Department of Justice will pursue these cases that undermine the integrity of our public contracting process.”

Stuart Bowen Jr., the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction said in a statement that “false claims filed by contractors have been a problem in Iraq.”

“While SIGIR continues to pursue a number of allegations in this regard, I am pleased to see that today one of those cases has come to just resolution,” he said.

Under the whistleblower settlement, DynCorp will pay $7.7 million and TSG will pay $1.01 million, according to the DOJ release. The two former TSG employees will also receive a share up to $481,710.