The federal authorities is suing an IT subcontractor and corporations that employed him over questionable billing practices.
The federal government is in search of $1.6 million from the Ottawa-based IT skilled for “unjust enrichment,” in line with courtroom paperwork filed final Friday. They allege that the contractor billed the civil service for hours he did not really work.
The go well with, which additionally names seven corporations, comes as authorities procurement practices and contracting are dealing with elevated scrutiny since final yr’s damning auditor normal report on the ArriveCan app.
CBC Information reached out to the IT contractor for remark however didn’t obtain a reply. CBC Information isn’t naming the contractor as a result of he hasn’t filed a defence and the allegations haven’t been examined in courtroom.
Between 2018 and 2022, the contractor had been employed by a number of corporations that had contracts with the federal authorities, the paperwork state.
The federal government alleges the IT skilled submitted timesheets with overlapping work hours.
“In quite a few situations, [the defendant] submitted timesheets on a number of contracts the place the cumulative complete exceeded 24 hours in a single day,” the federal government’s assertion of declare reads.
“As it’s not potential for the defendant … to have really labored the variety of hours, this known as into query the validity and reliability of all of the timesheets.”
Public Companies and Procurement Canada (PSPC) interviewed the contractor as a part of an inside investigation, the courtroom paperwork say. The contractor advised PSPC that he had been billing corporations for “standby time” the place he was obtainable to carry out work however did not do any duties set out within the contracts between himself and the businesses, the paperwork say.
“Not one of the entries on his timesheets reviewed really referred to standby time, both straight or not directly,” the federal government’s declare reads.
“In all instances, the entries on [the defendant’s] timesheets reviewed had been made to appear to be he was finishing up work beneath the phrases of the contracts.”
ArriveCan contractor named in lawsuit
The federal government can be in search of varied quantities — totalling $1.6 million — from corporations that subcontracted work out to the IT skilled, alleging that they’re “responsible for breach of contract” and submitted inaccurate info to the federal government.
The assertion of declare alleges that the businesses all lacked an impartial system “to confirm the accuracy of [the defendant’s] timesheets.”
“The company defendants … every failed to make sure that their useful resource, [the defendant], was obtainable for work, and to have a system in place to watch, oversee and confirm that [the defendant] submitted timesheets which precisely recorded the time he really labored,” the federal government’s assertion of declare says.
The ultimate PSPC report on the contractor’s timesheets was submitted in April 2023, the paperwork say.
Final yr’s auditor normal report on the ArriveCan app flagged important considerations concerning the mission’s procurement course of. It famous that the ultimate value was “unattainable to find out” attributable to poor file maintaining.
GC Methods, the primary contractor concerned in ArriveCan, is among the corporations named within the go well with filed final week. The federal government is in search of $198,000 from that firm on this case.
The courtroom paperwork record a lot of contracts within the lawsuit, however none of them counsel they’re associated to ArriveCan.
CBC Information reached out to GC Methods’ lawyer for touch upon this lawsuit however didn’t obtain a reply.
The RCMP has been investigating GC Methods, however one of many house owners has mentioned that investigation is unrelated to ArriveCan.
On the request of a Home of Commons committee, the auditor normal launched a full audit of all authorities contracts awarded to GC Methods. The corporate has beforehand denied any wrongdoing in its work with the federal authorities.
Within the wake of the auditor normal’s report on ArriveCan, the federal government referred three instances of suspected contractor fraud to the RCMP final March.
In June, the RCMP charged a guide for overbilling the federal government by roughly $250,000. These instances weren’t associated to ArriveCan.
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