FreshPoint Inc., a Denver-based company with operations in Savannah, has paid the United States $4.2 million to settle allegations it submitted false claims for the sales of fresh fruit and vegetables to the U.S. Department of Defense and others.
The settlement resolves allegations that FreshPoint over-charged the government on thousands of sales by improperly adding random price mark-ups known as “marketing earned income” or “MEI” to invoices submitted to the Department of Defense, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia announced Monday.
The invoices were submitted from Dec. 17, 2007, through Sept. 11, 2009, according to the U.S. attorney’s office, in connection with contracts FreshPoint had to supply fresh fruits and vegetables to the defense department, including military troops.
The price markups were added to bring the price of those fresh fruits and vegetables to what FreshPoint said was their market value, but the U.S. attorney argued the markups violated the company’s contract.
“All contractors who do business with the Government are expected to abide by the rules, no matter who you are,” said U.S. Attorney Edward J. Tarver. “Enforcement actions such as this are necessary to protect American taxpayers and to protect our troops.”
The settlement resolves allegations against FreshPoint and, its parent company, that were originally part of a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Charles Hall, a former FreshPoint employee, who will receive part of the proceeds.