Howard County Business, Owner Face False Claims Act Violation Lawsuit Filed By U.S.

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — The United States has filed a lawsuit against government contractor Intelligent Fiscal Optimal Solutions LLC and its owner, Tawanda M. Smith, both of Columbia, alleging that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting fake invoices to the Department of Homeland Security in connection with a contract for staff augmentation services awarded by DHS to iFOS.

According to the United States’ complaint, iFOS and Smith coordinated with then DHS official Kenneth J. Buck, to award a contract to iFOS. iFOS and Smith planned for Buck to enter into a subcontract with iFOS after he left DHS at which time Buck would serve as the strategic advisor for the DHS contract, a role that would require him to communicate directly with his successor at DHS on behalf of iFOS.

iFOS and Smith were aware of federal conflict-of-interest rules that limited Buck’s ability to communicate directly with DHS officials on behalf of iFOS during a mandatory “cooling off” period that applies to former government officials such as Buck, according to court documents, and they allegedly misled DHS contracting personnel by falsely representing that a different iFOS employee would serve as the strategic advisor and concealed their intentions of involving Buck.

After the contract was awarded, iFOS and Smith are believed to have submitted false invoices to DHS contracting personnel that attempted to hide the work performed by Buck on the contract, which they believe included improper communications with Buck's DHS successor that violated federal conflict-of-interest laws.

The complaint also states that iFOS and Smith violated material contract requirements that mandated a background investigation be completed for all iFOS personnel, which Buck never completed.

Earlier this month, Buck settled civil claims relating to his role in the scheme as identified in the complaint.

“The federal procurement system has strict policies to prevent corruption and contract manipulation,” U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland said. “These ethics and conflict of interest policies must be enforced to ensure that government contract awards are beyond reproach. In partnership with our investigative partners, our office will continue to hold accountable those who weaken the integrity of our procurement system.”

The lawsuit has been filed as United States v. Intelligent Fiscal Optimal Solutions LLC, et al., No. 22- CV No. 1:22-cv-01053-JMC (D. Md.), and is being handled by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch (Fraud Section) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.
DHS OIG is investigating.