U.S. joins False Claims Act suit against EMC

The United States has joined in a false claims case against EMC Corp., based in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. EMC is a major provider of software, hardware, and IT consulting services to the government. The Justice Department has alleged that since the 1990s, EMC Corp. lied to the government about its lowest prices when negotiating with the General Services Administration for supply schedule contracts. In addition, the lawsuit claims that EMC paid kickbacks to government contractors who in turn used EMC products in building large government computer networks for federal agencies.

The case against EMC is related to other lawsuits that the government has already joined against technology giants such as Microsoft, Cisco, Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard. All of the cases were originally filed by the same two whistleblowers, Norman Rille and Neal Roberts. Under the Qui Tam provisions of the statute, a whistleblower may file a lawsuit on the government’s behalf against a company known to be defrauding the government. The whistleblower is then entitled to participate in any recovery gained as a result of the suit.

For the full story, go to Federal Times.