NEW YORK
The federal government filed a claim against Veterans Enterprises Co., a contracting company, alleging it submitted false claims for federal contracts intended for the disabled veterans and veterans who owned small businesses, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York against Strock Contracting, Inc., Lee Strock, Kenneth Carter and Cynthia Ann Golde, who are alleged to have defrauded the government by falsely claiming eligibility for millions of dollars in contracts being awarded by the Air Force, Army, and Department of Veterans Affairs intended for service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses.
Strock largely owns and manages Strock Contracting, Inc., and Strock and Carter were officers and partial owners of Veteran Enterprises Company, Inc., which was awarded the contracts. Golde was a former employee of Enterprises Company.
“Congress established the Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned contracting programs to provide economic opportunities for veterans with service-connected disabilities and to help them participate in federal contracting and compete in the American economy,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.“The Justice Department is committed to making sure that only eligible companies participate in these types of federal contracting programs.”
“This country long ago developed policies designed to ensure that our wounded warriors have the ability to participate in government-funded programs, and to have their transition into the civilian economy eased to the extent possible,” said U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. of New York. “This lawsuit – the first of its kind in this District – sends a strong message that this office will vigorously protect programs designed to aid those who have already given so much in the honorable service of their country.”
Between 2008 and 2013, Veterans Enterprises obtained millions of dollars in federal contracts offered by the government to legitimate disabled veterans and veterans’ small businesses.
Officials said the defendants won these contracts after claiming that Veterans Enterprises met all the requirements to be an disabled veterans’ or veterans’ small business.
The government’s complaint alleges that Veterans Enterprises did not meet the requirements and was not entitled to such contract, authorities said.
In particular, officials said the government alleges that Veterans Enterpises was a sham business whose day to day operations were controlled by Strock Contracting and the individual defendants.
For example, officials said the government’s complaint alleges that the purported owner of Veterans Enterprises did not even have a key to Veterans Enterprises offices, which were located in the same building as Strock Consulting, according to officials.