Towns warns against "con artist" contractors
Rep. Ed Towns has scheduled a hearing to examine whether more anti-fraud protections are needed in the economic stimulus package to guard against "convicts and con artists."
Safeguards against fraudulent contractors may need to be tightened in the economic stimulus package, according to the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Lawbreakers continue to win federal contracts despite existing protections against that outcome, said Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., who has scheduled a full committee hearing at 10 a.m. on Feb. 26 entitled “How Convicts and Con Artists Receive New Federal Contracts.”
The oversight committee is examining the problem to determine if additional safety measures against contractor frauds are needed for the $787 billion to be spent under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Towns said in a news release.
The committee will review alleged shortcomings the General Service Administration’s online tracking of contractor suspensions and debarments in its Excluded Parties List System. Contractors can be suspended or debarred due to misconduct, including criminal and civil violations and convictions.
A Government Accountability Office report to be released at the hearing finds “numerous examples of ineligible parties continuing to receive new federal contracts, due to flaws in the database and inadequate contracting procedures,” Towns said.
Towns said the committee also will consider whether immediate modifications should be implemented to the suspension and debarment regulations to ensure that none of the economic stimulus funding goes to fraudulent contractors.