The False Claims Act does not only punish taking money you should not get. It also punishes keeping money you should give back. Reverse false claims liability turns a retained overpayment into treble damages.
If your subcontractor performs the primary and vital work, or you rely on them too heavily, SBA can treat you as affiliated and strip your small-business eligibility. The ostensible subcontractor rule is a favorite target of size protests.
Federal contractors must have a written code of business ethics and, for larger contracts, must disclose credible evidence of fraud or a False Claims Act violation. Failing to disclose is itself a cause for debarment.
Agreeing with a competitor on who wins, what to bid, or who stays out is a criminal antitrust violation, and DOJ's Procurement Collusion Strike Force is prosecuting it aggressively. Know the red flags before a conversation becomes a case.
Hiring a former federal official can be a smart move or a legal landmine. The revolving-door rules under 18 U.S.C. 207 and the FAR restrict what that person can do for you, and getting it wrong creates criminal and conflict exposure.
The Procurement Integrity Act makes it a violation to disclose or obtain contractor bid, proposal, or source selection information before award, and it restricts hiring the officials who ran your procurement. The penalties are severe.
Suspension and debarment can shut you out of the entire federal market government-wide, without a criminal conviction. It turns on present responsibility, and it moves faster than you think.
If you help write the specs, the statement of work, or the evaluation criteria, you may have set the ground rules in your own favor. This OCI is rarely mitigable, and it is one contractors trip over most.
When one contract gives you nonpublic information that would unfairly advantage you on another, you have an unequal-access conflict. The good news: it is the most fixable OCI, if you build the firewall right.
Paying someone a success fee to land a federal contract can breach the Covenant Against Contingent Fees and let the government annul the award. Where the line sits between a bona fide agent and an improper one.
