Booz Allen Pays $377.5 Million to Settle Government Billing Case

The consulting agency Booz Allen Hamilton has agreed to pay $377.5 million to settle a federal lawsuit that accused it of falsely billing the U.S. authorities, the Justice Department stated on Friday.

The settlement resolves allegations that between 2011 and 2021, Booz Allen improperly charged the federal government for oblique prices that it ought to have billed beneath its business and worldwide contracts, the Justice Department stated in a news launch. The authorities had alleged that the agency “obtained reimbursement from the government for the costs of commercial activities that provided no benefit to the United States.”

A consulting agency’s oblique prices can embrace bills like tools, advertising and marketing and workplace area.

Booz Allen, which relies in McLean, Va., has profitable protection and intelligence contracts with the federal authorities. Investigators started reviewing the agency’s billing practices in 2016.

“Government contractors must turn square corners when billing the government for costs under government contracts,” Brian M. Boynton, principal deputy assistant legal professional and head of the Justice Department’s civil division, stated in an announcement.

Matthew M. Graves, U.S. legal professional for the District of Columbia, stated within the news launch that the settlement was “one of the largest procurement fraud settlements in history.”

A spokeswoman for Booz Allen stated in an announcement on Friday that the corporate believed it had acted “lawfully and responsibly.”

“It decided to settle this civil inquiry for pragmatic business reasons to avoid the delay, uncertainty and expense of protracted litigation,” the spokeswoman stated. “The company did not want to engage in what likely would have been a yearslong court fight with its largest client, the U.S. government, on an immensely complex matter.”

A parallel legal investigation into the allegations by the Justice Department was closed in 2021 with no prices. An investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission is constant.