Company pays $450,000 for false claims

   The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday said Direct Resource Inc. has agreed to pay the government $450,000 to resolve allegations that it falsely claimed payment in violation of the Trade Agreements Act (TAA), which prohibits the sale of products to federal agencies from countries that do not have a reciprocal trade agreement with the United States. 
   The Columbus, Ohio-based company allegedly knowingly sold products from China, a country that does not have such an agreement with the United States.
   Direct Resource sells a variety of products to U.S. agencies, including office supplies. The General Services Administration contracts require all products sold to the U.S. government be manufactured in one of a list of designated countries deemed to trade fairly with the United States.
   “It is central to the mission of the Department of Justice to protect the federal procurement process from improper charges and false claims,” said Stuart F. Delery, acting assistant attorney general for the department’s Civil Division, in a statement. “Contractors who undermine U.S. trade interests will be held accountable for their actions.”
   The allegations regarding Direct Resource arose from a whistleblower lawsuit filed in a federal court in the District of Columbia under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act. Those provisions allow individuals known as “relators,” to sue on behalf of the United States and to share in the proceeds of any settlement or judgment if the suit is successful. The relator, Louis Scutellaro, in this case will receive $67,500 of the total recovery as a statutory award, the Justice Department said.
   “The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability,” the department added.