By Everdeen Mason
A Sysco Corp. (SYY) unit has agreed to pay a $4.2 million
settlement for allegedly overcharging the Department of Defense on
several fruit and vegetable contracts over three years.
FreshPoint Inc., a food distribution company, is accused of
inflating its prices to the government based on its market
estimates, violating the terms of 15 separate contracts from
December 2007 through September 2011. A former FreshPoint employee,
Charles Hall, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the government through
the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act and will
receive $798,000.
"This settlement demonstrates one of the many types of fraud
inflicted upon the American taxpayers," said Edward Tarver, U.S.
attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
A representative from the company wasn't immediately available
for comment.
Sysco's shares were down two cents to $33.60 in early trading,
but up 6.2% year-to-date.
Write to Everdeen Mason at everdeen.mason@wsj.com
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