Gen Digital Inc. (previously registered as Symantec Corp.) is the subject of a $55.1M court settlement for overcharging the United States government.
The resolution to settle False Claims Act (FCA) allegations against the Tempe, Arizona-based company was achieved through a coordinated effort of law enforcement and government regulators.
The Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, with assistance from GSA’s Office of General Counsel and Office of Inspector General, achieved the ruling.
“The trial team secured a $55 million judgment that holds accountable a contractor who intentionally tried to overbill the government,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia.
Gen Digital pays millions to settle FCA allegations
The resolution of the case and allegations against Gen Digital/Symantec were hammered out after a four-week legal trial in February and March 2022.
Gen Digital/Symantec was found liable for knowingly breaching best practices and the governance expected of a contractor carrying out work for the General Services Administration (GSA).
Government watchdogs robustly scrutinized these commercial sales practices as part of the trial, and it found that Gen Digital/Symantec “made false statements to GSA during contractual negotiations in 2006 and early 2007 and continued to falsely certify throughout the performance of the contract through Sept. 30, 2012.”
These commercial practices and governance breaches resulted in the GSA being hoodwinked into paying higher prices. The trial also found that Gen Digital/Symantec breached a Price Reduction Clause.
According to the Justice Department report, this clause is a standard part of Multiple Award Schedule contracts that requires Gen Digital/Symantec to best represent the GSA’s needs. They would be expected to maintain the government representatives’ “price position in relation to an identified customer or category of customer agreed upon in contract negotiations. These violations deprived the United States of discounts to which it was entitled.”
Gen Digital has been instructed to pay $16.1 million in damages and $36.8 million in civil penalties.
“The department will hold accountable contractors that knowingly overcharge the United States to enrich themselves,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The years spent litigating this case and taking it to trial demonstrate the department’s steadfast commitment to protecting taxpayer funds.”
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