The United States has filed a complaint in the Western District of New York against YRC Freight Inc, Roadway Express Inc, and Yellow Transportation Inc.
The allegations arose from a lawsuit that claimed YRC Freight Inc, Roadway Express Inc, and Yellow Transportation Inc overcharged the government for freight carrier services and made false statements to the government that hid their misconduct.
According to the government, for more than seven years, the defendants defrauded the Department of Defense by millions of dollars for shipments that were actually lighter, and thus cheaper, than the weights for which the defendants charged the government. Allegedly, the defendants knowingly made or used false statements concealing their overcharging practices to the Department of Defense.
Reportedly, the carriers reweighed thousands of shipments but suppressed the results whenever they showed a shipment was lighter than its original estimated weight. The suit said the carriers “knowingly billed the government (and their other customers) based on weights that they knew to be inflated.”
“When a federal agency, such as the Department of Defense, enters into a service contract with a private corporation or company, the expectation is that the agreement will be administered in good faith,” stated U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy Jr. for the Western District of New York. “In this case, YRC did not legally fulfill its agreed upon obligations to the Defense Department, choosing instead to line its pockets with tax payer’s dollars. Such actions are fraudulent and illegal. This case should serve as a warning to any organization that enters into a contract with the federal government—if you try to rip us off, be prepared to pay a heavy price.”
The original lawsuit in this case was filed by James Hannum under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act.
