THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 4, 1994 TAG: 9411040741
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 27 lines
A Hampton defense contractor has agreed to pay a $300,000 civil penalty for federal violations at several military and space-agency installations in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News and Richmond.
Prosecutors announced the settlement Wednesday in their case against Stevens Supply Inc. and company owner John Patrick Stevens of Hampton.
The company provided plumbing supplies and other items to Defense Department and NASA installations. Prosecutors said Stevens substituted cheaper, non-conforming products, often foreign-made, when filling orders, then billed the government for more expensive, conforming products.
Stevens was accused of violating the federal False Claims Act starting in 1988. Prosecutors said the company submitted more than 250 invoices claiming more than $150,000 for non-conforming and foreign-made products falsely identified as conforming and American-made.
The investigation was conducted by five different federal agencies, led by the Justice Department. by CNB