DOJ: Trotwood company to pay more than $300K to settle False Claims Act case

Wise Services Inc. allegedly paid kickbacks, caused fraudulent claims to be submitted to federal government.
Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C.

Credit: U,S. DOJ

Credit: U,S. DOJ

Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C.

A Trotwood company has agreed to pay more than $300,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by causing fraudulent invoices to be submitted to the Department of Energy and for paying kickbacks, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

Wise Services Inc. was a subcontractor between 2008 and 2016 at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the DOE Savannah River site in Aiken, South Carolina when Wise allegedly submitted hundreds of invoices charging millions of dollars for materials that did not exist to the main contractor, MOX Services LLC.

Wise also allegedly paid kickbacks to MOX employees involved in the scheme who submitted those false claims to the DOE, according to the DOJ.

“The lawsuit filed by Justice Department and this settlement will serve as a deterrent to others who seek to defraud the Department of Energy,” said Inspector General Teri L. Donaldson for the Department of Energy. “We are always seeking out those who develop illegal schemes designed to harm the government and the American taxpayers and we will continue to do everything we can to detect and deter these fraudsters.”

The settlement amount of $302,500 “was negotiated based on Wise’s lack of ability to pay” and is not an admission of liability by Wise, according to the DOJ.

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