ALEXANDRIA, Va. – 360 Patriot Enterprises, LLC (360 Patriot), located in Alexandria, Virginia, and its former minority shareholder, 360 Ventures LLC (360 Ventures), located in Wilmington, Delaware, agreed to pay a combined $1.12 million to settle civil fraud allegations that 360 Patriot was awarded two U.S. Army contracts set aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB) at a time when 360 Patriot was not controlled by a service-disabled veteran (SDV), announced Acting U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh for the Eastern District of Virginia.
In order to qualify as a SDVOSB, companies must meet defined eligibility criteria, including that the company is at least 51% unconditionally and directly owned and controlled by one or more SDVs. The United States alleged that from March 2015 to December 2017, 360 Patriot was controlled by a non-SDV, and 360 Ventures facilitated the non-SDV’s control of the company under previous ownership and management. During that time, 360 Patriot was awarded two Army contracts that were set aside for qualified SDVOSBs.
360 Patriot’s current management submitted a written contractor disclosure to the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General in October 2020, describing the company’s likely prior control by a non-SDV.
The resolutions obtained in this matter were the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, Major Procurement Fraud Unit; and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
The matter was investigated by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristin S. Starr and William Hochul.
The civil claims settled by the settlement agreement are allegations only; there has been no determination of civil liability.
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