Fraud

For three and a half years, a former Pentagon supplier used two shell companies in Wyoming and pretended they were largely owned by ethnic minorities to win preferential treatment for government contracts so that he could profit from supplying substandard parts to the military. These schemes happen all too often. In another, conspirators used sham companies from North Carolina, Nevada and Tennessee to steal more than $2 million from subcontractors that they tricked into fulfilling contracts.

The US Administration is coming upon a key moment tomorrow at the international Anti-Corruption Summit hosted by the UK where it can keep the criminal and corrupt from ripping off our public budget while hiding behind the veil of an anonymous shell company.

More than 30 Organizations call on U.S. Government to Commit to Collecting and Publishing Information about the Real Owners of Companies Involved in Federal Procurement
Today, Global Witness joined the FACT Coalition and 30 other organizations in calling for the U.S. Administration to make a commitment to collect and publish information about the real owners of companies (also called “beneficial owners”) that participate in federal procurement, under its first National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct.

The U.S. government expects to use this plan to demonstrate how it encourages companies to achieve high standards of behavior and to champion those that reach such best practices. The plan is also a way for the government to highlight what it is doing to encourage an enabling environment for responsible business conduct.

To achieve these objectives, the Administration must work to curb fraud and corruption, and to protect against related human rights abuses. Federal procurement is an important area where the Administration has the authority to act without Congress, and to significantly impact fraud and abuse that has devastating consequences to human rights. By leveraging the vast purchasing power of the U.S. government ($445 billion in 2014), the procurement sector has the potential to be a force for good.