Wackenhut was accused of billing the County for no-show guards to the tune of between $3.3 to $5.8 million dollars. The money damages that County Commissioners would vote on tomorrow are not bad, however, in cases of fraud there is triple damages so they should be more, but I am not going to quibble on damages. What I don't like is the part where: Miami-Dade would end its bid to keep Wackenhut from doing business with the county. According to the Miami Herald the settlement says:It (the County) would promise not to use the facts of this case against Wackenhut on current or future contracts...The county also agreed to clarify its final audit by Miami-Dade's chief auditor Cathy Jackson, saying her comments ``should not be construed to mean that the principals or management of Wackenhut engaged in fraud.''
What?? Wackenhut over-billed for years, why should we give them any more business? Bad deal Burgess. Anyway, didn't Wackenhut change their name, and you know how short memory is in this County. Their lobbyist for this settlement is Jeffrey T. Foreman.
We wrote about the Wackenhut story many times, here are three examples:
Wackenhut 1 - Wackenhut 2 - Wackenhut 3
Also NBC 6 is following the story and they have posted a video. Michelle Trimble was a whistle blower on Wackenhut, she would get $1.25 million if the deal is approved, and she is featured in the NBC video.
19 comments:
It is very hard to prove some security guard wasn't standing at his post 5 years ago. At some point, the County has to weigh how much time and effort (which equals taxpayer money) they will continue to spend to recoup more money.
For Wackenhut, I'm sure they were willing to fight this until the end of time, because this would have been an extremely high visibility shot to their image.
Debarment would have lasted 3 maybe 5 years. I'm sure those security contracts they were on are already awarded for that time anyway.
Sometimes, it's just better to wrap it up and move on.
m
I read the first sentence and KNEW it was you M. I am either a psychic or you are predictable...I wonder which.
There is never accountability. The more money at stake, the less chance there is of someone being penalized. Just tell us, M-D County: how many HABDI principals, who sued the county over years and years in its failed bid to privatize the Homestead Air Base, ever paid a price, or, which airport officials were ever held to account? ... waiting for an answer.
Michelle Trimble is a true hero. She deserves the money.
$1.25 million to Trimble and $3.25 million to her attorneys
What's up with that?
when you report fraud in the county you are entitled to triple damages of what ever was due...read past links...
The Audit:
The long awaited Audit by Cathy Jackson, was released today (May 8, 2008) on just one Wackenhut Contract (there are 2 with problems). Audit: Wackenhut overbilled Dade millions. With triple damages (The county's False Claims Act includes a provision for triple damages) we could be talking about close to $100 million in damages that Wackenhut is responsible for in the "Phantom Post" billing on two contracts.
It looks like someone sandpapered that guys face.
This is ridiculous! This company should be held 100% accountable for their actions. They should fully reimburse the county for all monies stolen. The judge should bar any lobbyist connected to this company from running for public office and the company should be disqualified from bidding on future county business. How can they be trusted again? When are we going to do the right thing and set an example for the consequences of public corruption? corruption. $14.5 million dollars would pay all the salaries of nurses and doctors being laid off at Jackson Memorial.
To allege, or suspect, that they are ripping you off and to "prove every instance, are two vastly different things.
Just by reading these comments, I don't suspect any were made by attorneys.
m
Carrie Meek shows up again taking money from taxpayers at every step of the scheme. The taxpayers pay her to be retired and the taxpayers pay Wachenhut who hire her to take more of the taxpayers money...
M,
It seems to me that they should be put on time out for even 1 instance of fraudulent billing. You are speaking of taxpayers money, and believe me I work very hard to be able to pay the county taxes. So, do many other people.
We, the people, deserve better accountability for past contracts. People who steal certainly do not deserve a broom to sweep things under the rug and a slap on the rump and a "gee, guys see you at the next contract bid". That is corruption. They stole from us. That is supporting their fraud.
Any trial attorney will tell you that lawsuits that hit a corporate pocketbook in a big way tend to discourage further malfeasance. That is exactly why tort reform is consistently tossed about. Corporations would like to see group action and product liability lawsuits go away. However, hopefully, the general public knows that corporations would not work to correct a defect if it didn't pinch them in bank account.They would weigh the bottom line against the cost of remedy. Think exploding gas tanks and more recently, stuck gas peddles.
In the case of Wackenhut, we are aiding them in their theft of money from the county. They are intimidating the county staff. That is BS.
They were put on timeout. Their contract was taken away and divided up among other companies, which have 5 year contracts with the County.
Wackenhut is not currently a County vendor.
m
so, time out or not, why are we paying them?
You know, this for me is a bit like negotiating in a hostage situation. You don't make a precedent of paying hostages so that you have more problems in the future. I think we should have brought the full weight of the law on these guys and pursued them into the sunset. We waste so much money in this county. It would have been better to defer some of those funds towards this case. It is completely unacceptable that we are continuing to employ this firm. I hope we find something else to fire them over, quickly. I am not happy.
Forgot to mention this -- if we are to continue to use them, will they simply factor in higher rates to recoup the money they had to pay out? This is crazy.
You can thank your politically connected commissioners for their loyalty to this company. It's business as usual in the most corrupt county south of Atlanta. They can now be awarded new business with the county and recoup all this lost money! Keep re-elected those bastards.
Kendrick and Carrie Meek are as much victims in all of this as the county. Keep in mind that Kendrick's political career was adversely affected by either sloppy paperwork or fraud at Wackenhut--he secured contracts. Someone unrelated to contracts and perhaps higher ups were responsible for auditing, record keeping, etc. If he knew anything about what was going on, he would have been better to cut ties and/or blow the whistle himself.
Folks are we kidding here? First, in order to commit this fraud many of these so called whistle blowers were participating by recieving pay for hours not actually worked. Funny how this went on for years without thier coming forward and then once terminated they are now upstanding citizens.
In any case I am truly glad someone stood up to Wackenhut and put them in thier place, I just do not believe it was for the noble reasons we would like to think.
As for the Kendrick Meek connection he was getting paid an annual salary along with other perks for lobbying for Wackenhut contracts and assisting them in putting out fires. Did he know that they were comitting fraud, who knows.
I understand the settlement with the County by all parties it makes sense to hide the dirty laundry and avoid a costly process which could go either way.
My questions here are; who was watching the store here? Where was the oversight by the County? Who was responsible for monitoring this contract and have they been held accountable? Why has this aspect of the story been avoided? How was this a no bid contract when the County has procurement guidelines set by the Board of County Commissioners?
Just some thoughts,
Concerned
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