BEAUMONT – A $25.4 million settlement has been reached in a lawsuit brought against DynCorp International and Damco U.S.A. The United States of America, by and through Qui Tam Relators Robert Reddell and Robert Hendrix, brought the action under the False Claims Act.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division. Case No. 1:14-cv-00086- MAC. The realtors are represented by lead counsel Greg Dykeman, Stacie Augustine, and the Berg & Androphy law firm.
According to the fourth amended complaint, the government unwittingly paid fraudulent bills for Damco’s work from at least 2011 to 2013. In late 2011, DynCorp, prime contractor with the U.S. Army for the provision of supplies to American troops stationed overseas, including in Afghanistan, jettisoned its freight forwarding contractor, EWC, even though EWC had consistently met its contractual requirements. In its place, DynCorp chose Damco in order to gain discounted access to Damco’s quality consolidation center in Dubai.
“While Damco’s bid appeared lower than most competitors’, its actual charges from the start of the contract performance systematically included accessorial costs that it had bid as included in its base per kilo rate, not to be separately billed,” the suit states. “Further, Damco systematically billed ‘oversize’ charges for freight that was not oversized, double-billed for ‘oversize’ and ‘dim weight’ charges on the same freight, excessive palletization fees regardless of whether goods were palletized, exorbitant fuel surcharges regardless of actual fuel price, and repeatedly billed for surcharges on multiple invoices for freight on the same plane, though the surcharges only applied once per plane.”
According to the settlement agreement, Damco and DynCorp shall pay the U.S. $17 million, $9,571,673 of which is restitution. The companies also agreed to pay $8.4 million to the relators’ counsel.
