The government alleged that MPRI billed for employees who had not worked because they had been granted leave and were out of the country. The alleged false billing occurred between March 2005 and October 2010.

Under its contract with the Army, MPRI was required to provide support to the Army in its efforts to re-design and build from scratch a new Afghan Defense Sector that would establish an Afghan national security system suitable for a modern Western military. Among other things, MPRI was required to provide support for program and financial management, development and implementation of core systems for the Afghan Ministry of Defense and General Staff, intermediate Commands, and sustaining institutions, training in logistics, acquisitions, installation management and intelligence.

“Our job with our partner agencies is to ensure that the government gets what it pays for,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Carter Stewart. “Our office will make every effort to ensure that government contractors submit claims in strict compliance with contract terms and take no liberties in the submission of claims for payment.”

The allegations arose from a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Byron Scott Lankford under the False Claims Act, which permits private individuals to bring lawsuits on behalf of the government and to share in the proceeds of any settlement or judgment. MPRI employed Lankford in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2009 as a finance officer and contract support official. Lankford will receive $576,000 as his share of the settlement amount.

The settlement announced today was the result of a coordinated effort by the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio and an investigative team that included the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the Defense Contract Audit Agency. The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

Millennium Engineering and Integration were awarded $12,049,307 which will cover the period of performance will cover a two week Phase-In, 1-Base Year, and 2 One-Year options.The Government is contemplating a Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) contract to fulfill these requirements with expected award on or about 8 January 2014, with the two week Phase-In beginning 13 January 2014 - 26 January 2014, and actual performance start date of 27 January 2014.

About Millennium Engineering and Integration

Millennium is one of the nation’s premiere mechanical engineering and analysis contractors providing the government with technical expertise during the design, development, and test of all classes of spacecraft from small-sats to large scale NASA/NOAA weather satellites. Millennium has over 15 years expertise in end-to-end mechanical engineering and analysis for NASA and DoD space vehicles, including payloads, instruments, buses, and fully integrated spacecraft. We deliver expertise in a variety of mechanical engineering disciplines.