WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Department of Justice announced Aug. 15 that Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (HII), a publicly traded company with headquarters in Newport, Virginia, will pay $9.2 million to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act.
“Contractors that knowingly bill the government in violation of contract terms will face serious consequences,” said acting assistant attorney general Chad A. Readler of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This settlement demonstrates, once again, that we will not tolerate defense contractors who falsely charge the armed forces or any agency of the United States.”
According to allegations, Huntington Ingalls knowingly overbilled the government for work completed on U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships. The company purportedly billed labor incurred on one contract to other contracts. Additionally, the company allegedly billed the Navy and Coast Guard for dive operations to support ship hull construction that it did not complete.
"Our armed forces depend on defense contractors to follow the rules, and this civil settlement, the second largest in District of Columbia history, should remind all those who conduct business with the U. S. government that they are expected to abide by the rules,” said acting U.S. attorney Harold Brittain.
Handling the settlement for the United States were the Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi, the Defense Contract Audit Agency, DCIS, NCIS and CGIS.