The Justice Department has formally closed out its fraud case against Mission Support Alliance, the joint venture that formally provided landlord services at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, according to a settlement filed last week with a federal court in Washington state.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson of the Eastern District of Washington agreed to accept the joint motion to dismiss filed by the Justice Department and defendants Mission Support Alliance (MSA), its one-time lead partner Lockheed Martin, and former MSA executive Jorge Francisco Armijo.
The Tri-City Herald newspaper in Washington state reported last month the case had been settled for $6 million. A spokesman for MSA, which now consists of only Leidos and Centerra, subsequently confirmed to Weapons Complex Morning Briefing the case was settled but would not confirm any details.
The order issued Friday also revealed no details about the settlement.
The Justice Department filed suit against MSA in February 2019, accusing the company of fraud through alleged false claims and kickbacks between 2010 and 2015. The government claimed that when Lockheed Martin was the chief partner of MSA, the team farmed out a big subcontract to another Lockheed entity for computer and technical expertise.
The lead partner slot for MSA was assumed by Leidos in 2016 when it acquired Lockheed’s share of MSA. Under a new five-year, $4-billion contract that began last August a new joint venture made up of Leidos, Centerra and Parsons, provide the services ranging from road upkeep to computer technology.
