The government purchase card makes small buys fast, which is exactly why it is a magnet for misuse, split purchases, and fraud. The dollar amounts look tiny, but the enforcement is not. Here is how to keep it clean.
U.S. sanctions bar you from doing business with blocked persons and countries, and OFAC liability is strict, meaning intent is not required. For contractors, screening your supply chain and payments is no longer optional.
If your work touches defense technical data or controlled technology, ITAR and EAR govern who can see it and where it can go. Violations carry steep civil and criminal penalties, and even an email to the wrong person can be an export.
A defense parts supplier will pay $4.9 million to resolve claims it used another company's identification code without permission and delivered parts that failed quality standards. A lone whistleblower pressed the case even after DOJ declined.
Your past performance is a scored, government-wide record that shapes every future award. Understand how CPARS and FAPIIS work, and why inflating past performance in a proposal is a false statement, not a marketing choice.
If you handle covered defense information, DFARS 252.204-7012 requires safeguarding it and reporting a cyber incident to DoD within 72 hours. Missing the clock, or misstating your safeguards, is where False Claims Act exposure begins.
A joint venture or SBA mentor-protege arrangement lets a small business team with a bigger partner and still win set-asides. But the JV agreement, the work split, and the performance-of-work rules have to be exactly right, or you lose the protection.
Filing a claim or request for equitable adjustment is your right when the government owes you. But inflate it or certify it falsely, and the same claim can trigger fraud penalties and forfeiture. Know where the line is.
A bid protest is how contractors hold the government accountable for a flawed or unfair award. But standing, strict deadlines, and the automatic stay decide whether your challenge is heard. Here is how the process really works.
Giving anything of value to a federal official to influence an official act is bribery, a serious felony under 18 U.S.C. 201. Even a gratuity given because of an official act is illegal. The line is thinner than most contractors think.
