SM Logging & Services: False Worker Certifications on Forest Service Invoices

The government obtained a separate $458,374 civil judgment against the owner doing business as SM Logging & Services over false Forest Service worker certifications in invoices for timber-thinning work. The Hermosa, South Dakota contractor’s work involved thinning unhealthy timber in the Black Hills National Forest. For someone who knows the crews or prepares the bills, the connection is direct: the assurance about who performed the work appeared in the request for federal payment.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota announced the judgment on October 27, 2015. Its announcement described invoices certifying that legal workers had performed the work, although the contractors had employed undocumented workers. The contracts did not permit that work to be done by undocumented workers.

What Is a False Certification?

In this case, the false certification was on the bill: the contractors’ invoices said the Forest Service work had been performed by legal workers when it had not. That statement tied the workforce to the request for payment.

The Forest Service bought timber-thinning work with a restriction on who could perform it. The invoice represented that the contractors had met that condition. We see the absurdity in asking the government to pay for work under its contracts while falsely certifying compliance with those same contracts. The promise was on the bill.

That is the part of government contract labor fraud an insider may recognize from ordinary work.

The Invoice Put the Workforce Claim in Writing

The Justice Department identified the invoices themselves as carrying the false worker certifications. That gives an insider a specific point of comparison: the workforce represented in the payment request against the workforce used to perform the contract.

The practical value of government contract billing evidence is in those connections. The contract identifies the promise. The invoice shows what the business told the government about keeping it. Records of the actual workforce test that statement. We use those connections to understand how a staffing decision inside the contractor became a claim on public money.

For a crew supervisor, the relevant knowledge might concern who actually performed the thinning. For someone handling payroll or billing, it might concern how the business represented that work when asking to be paid. Those are different views of the same transaction. We bring the operational account and the payment representation together, so the case tells the story of the work behind the invoice.

What the Civil Judgment Covers

The civil judgment required the owner doing business as SM Logging & Services to pay under the False Claims Act. Across the two judgments announced together, the Justice Department described damages multiplied by three and 44 separate civil penalties.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota handled the civil case. The announcement credited U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with conducting the investigation.

Separate Businesses, Separate Civil Outcomes

The owner doing business as Black Hills Thinning, based in Rapid City, faced a separate $759,999 civil judgment in the same announcement. That was the larger of the two judgments.

Other logging operators reached civil settlements in November 2014, including the $375,000 settlement with the operators of Munoz Logging and Construction Company.

What Proof Do You Need as a Whistleblower?

For a worker-certification matter, we look for the connection between the contract’s workforce requirement, the invoice assurance, the people who performed the work and what the contractor knew. If you know the crews, handle payroll or prepare federal invoices, your account helps explain where the assurance and the underlying work diverged.

You may understand which crew a bill concerns, what the certification meant inside the business, or who knew it was wrong. We turn that knowledge into a case built around the claim for payment, working with you to make the contractor’s decisions understandable to people who were never on the job.

A whistleblower case under the False Claims Act can pay 15% to 30% of what the government recovers.

You Know Who Did the Work

If the crew records and the Forest Service invoices tell different stories, talk with our whistleblower experts about the contractor’s certifications. We build your strongest case with you, bring in government contract fraud whistleblower lawyers who understand payment certifications, and stay beside you throughout the case.