Dell, Iron Bow agree on Army pricing allegation settlements
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By
Nick Wakeman
A whistleblower kicked off a Justice Department investigation into allegations that Dell and Iron Bow worked together to overcharge the Army for IT products.
Dell Technologies has agreed to pay $2.3 million to settle claims from the Justice Department that the global tech giant and its partner Iron Bow Technologies worked together to submit non-competitive bids under an Army IT contract.
Iron Bow also has agreed to pay another $2.051 million to settle the allegations.
Neither company is admitting any wrongdoing. The settlement states that they have agreed to pay the money to “avoid the delay, uncertainty, inconvenience and expense of protracted litigation.”
Dell did not respond to a request for comment, but an Iron Bow spokeswoman reiterated the language in the settlement that the company settled the allegations without an admission of liability.
“Iron Bow cooperated with the Department of Justice throughout its investigation of Dell pursuant to a Qui Tam Complaint against Dell and has maintained its position throughout that investigation,” the spokeswoman said.
Justice started its investigation after Brian Lilliard, an employee of another IT reseller, filed a whistleblower lawsuit against Dell in October 2020. The settlement states that from May 2020 through April 2024, Dell and Iron Bow would submit bids together for task orders under the Army Desktop and Mobile Computing 3 vehicle.
Simultaneously, Dell would submit a separate bid directly to the Army with higher pricing to drive the award to Iron Bow. The Dell bid was to create an illusion of competition, Justice said.
“The United States contends that this influenced the Army's source selection process and caused Iron Bow to overcharge the Army under ADMC-3 for Dell products sold by Iron Bow under Dell’s deal registration,” the settlement states.
As part of the agreement, Lilliard will receive $345,000 out of Dell’s payment because he filed the whistleblower lawsuit against Dell. He did not file against Iron Bow.
“This settlement demonstrates the department’s commitment to hold accountable those who overcharge the government through collusion or other unlawful conduct,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of Justice's civil division.
Lilliard filed his whistleblower lawsuit in the U.S. Court for the Northern District of Alabama.