Yet another U.S. Postal Service manager has pled guilty to fraud and corruption charges relating to USPS transportation contracts. In March 2012, the former USPS Manager of Postal Vehicle Service Operations for the Bay Valley District in Oakland, CA was indicted in a $4.4 million fraudulent billing scheme. Last year, five Postal Service officials at the Detroit, MI Vehicle Maintenance Facility were charged with similar crimes. One might well wonder how many more such episodes need to be uncovered before the Postal Service issues binding procurement regulations and institutes effective protest procedures. Here’s what happened in the most recent case.
protest
Clarifying the standard of proof for bait-and-switch protests at the Court of Federal Claims
By Husch Blackwell on
Posted in Bid Protests, Small Business
The Court of Federal Claims has issued an important decision establishing that offerors will be held accountable for making inaccurate representations in proposals. According to the Court’s decision in GTA Containers, Inc. v. United States, No. 11-606C (Fed. Cl. Feb. 22, 2012) [pdf], proof that an offeror made a misrepresentation in its proposal is sufficient to sustain a bait-and-switch protest if the agency relied on the misrepresentation.
COFC speaks on post-sunset task order protest jurisdiction
By Husch Blackwell on
Posted in Bid Protests
As we discussed in a previous post, there has been some confusion regarding the availability of task order protest jurisdiction following the expiration of the sunset provision enacted as part of the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act.
Will $13 million bribery scandal lead the Postal Service to reissue its procurement regulations?
By David P. Hendel on
Posted in Compliance, Postal Service Contracting
Did the U.S. Postal Service’s lack of procurement regulations inadvertently help USPS officials carry out a $13 million bribery scheme over several years? Five Postal Service employees were indicted in May 2011 by a Detroit, MI grand jury for taking bribes and steering as much as $13 million in vehicle maintenance work to a private contractor. Could this scheme have been prevented, or caught earlier, if USPS had not abolished its procurement regulations in 2006?