U.S. Attorney’s Offices for Rhode Island, Southern Texas recover more than $465K

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — U. S. Attorney Zachary Cunha said that the U. S. Attorney’s Offices for both the District of Rhode Island and the Southern District of Texas resolved a civil investigation into a global services fir  that will result in the recovery of over $465,000.

Cunha said the investigation focused on allegations that between June 2011 and July 2020 RPS Group, Inc. engaged in several unlawful practices in order to maximize revenue and avoid hitting budgetary ceilings with several contracts with the federal government.

At the time of the alleged unlawful conduct the company’s headquarters in the United States were located in Houston, Texas, with a subsidiary in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

The practices included moving recorded labor hours between government projects with different funding sources, submitting invoices for work that was not performed on government contracts, and falsely inflating employee billing rates.

The federal government claimed that the actions violated the False Claims Act.

Cunha said that RPS Group, Inc. will pay the federal government $465,293.

He added that the company has been acquired by another firm since the unlawful conduct ended.