VA’s Vet-owned Small Business Goals Questioned by Whistleblower

Congress to Examine Fraud in VA’s Vet-owned Small Business Goals

Lawmakers on Tuesday will hear allegations of manipulation and fraud by Veterans Affairs Department employees into the agency’s goals for serving veteran-owned and service disabled-owned small businesses.

Heading up the scheduled witnesses is Jan Frye, VA deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and logistics — and a high-ranking whistleblower since last month, when a March 19 memo he sent to Secretary Bob McDonald claiming widespread mismanagement, fraud and waste came to light.

“VA small-business goal accomplishments have been and continue to be vastly overstated,” Frye told McDonald in the 35-page memo, a copy of which was acquired by Military.com. “We have announced each year since 2008 that we have exceeded our directed goals for [veteran-and disabled veteran-owned] small businesses.

“The stated percentages touted are absolutely false,” he said.

According to Frye, the numbers VA uses to compile the data for Congress comes from the Federal Procurement Data System, where all information on federal contracting is stored. But agency purchases millions of dollars in goods and services each year without contracts, often through agents using purchase cards – with no contract required

Read the full story at http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/06/23/congress-to-examine-fraud-in-vas-vet-owned-small-business-goals.html

Source: Military.com. Article written by Bryant Jordan, published on June 23, 2015


 

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