UPS settles false claims allegations

UPS agreed to pay $25 million to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims to the U.S. government in connection with its delivery of next-day packages.    UPS has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims to the U.S. government in connection with its delivery of next-day, overnight packages, the Justice Department said.
   The Atlanta-based express carrier provides delivery services to hundreds of federal agencies via contracts with the General Services Administration and the Defense Department’s Transportation Command. Under these contracts, UPS guaranteed delivery of packages by certain specified times the following day.
   The Justice Department said the settlement resolves allegations that from 2004 to 2014 UPS engaged in practices that “concealed its failure to comply with its delivery guarantees, thereby depriving federal customers of the ability to request refunds for the late delivery of packages.”  
   The department explained “the government alleged that UPS knowingly recorded inaccurate delivery times on packages to make it appear that the packages were delivered on time, applied inapplicable ‘exception codes’ to excuse late delivery (such as ‘security delay,’ ‘customer not in,’ or ‘business closed’), and provided inaccurate ‘on-time’ performance data under the federal contracts.”  
   The civil settlement came about as part of a whistleblower’s lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act. The civil lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia by Robert K. Fulk, a former UPS employee, who will receive $3.75 million.