Fort Belvoir, Va. –
Vohne Liche Kennels (VLK) agreed to pay $1.35 million in a pre-suit settlement agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Indiana, Civil Division to resolve allegations of submitting false claims for labor hours for trainers and Field Service Representatives on an Army contract for training of explosive detection dogs. Specifically, VLK inflated the number of labor hours billed for training sessions and also inflated the number of labor hours performed in Afghanistan by their representatives. Under the settlement, VLK agreed to repay the $900,000 of federal funds that it received for the fraudulently billed claims, and also agreed to pay a civil penalty of $450,000.
This was a joint investigation by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Indianapolis Resident Agency, and the United States Army CID, Major Procurement Fraud Unit, Indianapolis Fraud Resident Agency.
DCAA auditors Kari Duguid and Andrew MacLachlan assisted the investigation by determining records to be subpoenaed, analyzing invoices, timesheets and other records, preparing multiple damage models, and assisting in settlement negotiations.
Read the Department of Justice press release here.