{"id":43190,"date":"2021-06-30T08:07:58","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T15:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=43190"},"modified":"2021-06-30T08:09:54","modified_gmt":"2021-06-30T15:09:54","slug":"belgian-security-co-and-three-former-execs-indicted-for-bid-rigging-u-s-contracts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=43190","title":{"rendered":"Belgian Security Co. and Three Former Execs Indicted for Bid Rigging U.S. Defense Contracts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WASHINGTON D.C.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Belgium-based Seris Security NV (Seris) and three executives for their roles in a conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids, officials announced Wednesday.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>They also allegedly allocated customers for defense-related security services, including a multimillion-dollar contract issued in 2020 to provide security services to the U.S. Department of Defense for military bases and installations in Belgium. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the second charge and first indictment involving an international conspiracy obtained by the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF) and follows G4S Secure Solution NV\u2019s (G4S) agreement to plead guilty<\/a>\u00a0in the investigation.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe companies and individuals indicted are alleged to have rigged bids submitted to the U.S. Department of Defense and others, and abused the public trust placed in them as providers of security services at critical locations,\u201d said Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard A. Powers of the Department of Justice\u2019s Antitrust Division.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s announcement demonstrates the culmination of extremely well-coordinated, diligent and tireless efforts by the FBI and our law enforcement partners working on the Procurement Collusion Strike Force to root out collusion that targets U.S. taxpayer dollars funding contracts overseas,\u201d said Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. of the FBI\u2019s New York Field Office.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"closeup<\/a>The indictment, returned in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, charges the following defendants: former G4S Chief Executive Officer Jean Paul Van Avermaet; Seris Security NV (Seris); former Seris Chief Executive Officer Danny Vandormael; and former Seris Director of Guarding & Monitoring Peter Verpoort with conspiring to fix prices, rig bids and allocate customers for contracts for the provision of security services that protect the national security interests of the United States in Belgium. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

All of the defendants worked in Belgium and are Belgian nationals. The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the indictment, the charged individuals, on behalf of their companies, along with other co-conspirators, participated in a conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for contracts to provide security services in Belgium, including contracts for the U.S. Department of Defense and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Those services included protecting military buildings and installations via the physical presence of guards, mobile monitoring, and electronic surveillance. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

As part of the conspiracy, the conspirators agreed that the company would win certain security services contracts and the price that each would bid for the contracts. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

As a result, the government received non-competitive and inflated bids and was deprived of a competitive bidding process. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The charged conspiracy began as early as spring 2019 and continued until as late as summer 2020.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The defendants are each charged with a violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals, and a $100 million fine for corporations. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The maximum fine for a Sherman Act charge may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime if either amount is greater than the statutory maximum fine. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In November 2019, the Department of Justice created the PCSF, a joint law enforcement effort to combat antitrust crimes and related fraudulent schemes that impact government procurement, grant, and program funding at all levels of government \u2013 federal, state, and local. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In fall 2020, the Strike Force expanded its footprint with the launch of PCSF: Global, which is designed to deter, detect, investigate and prosecute collusive schemes that target government spending outside of the United States.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON D.C. A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Belgium-based Seris Security NV (Seris) and three executives for their roles in a conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids, officials announced Wednesday….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-department-of-justice"],"yoast_head":"\nBelgian Security Co. and Three Former Execs Indicted for Bid Rigging U.S. Defense Contracts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"WASHINGTON D.C. 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