CSC to Pay $1.37 Million in Federal Kickbacks Case

May 13, 2008
© 2008 The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Computer Sciences Corp. has agreed to pay $1.37 million to settle allegations that it received kickbacks on contracts with government agencies, the Department of Justice said Tuesday.

"We can confirm that we've settled this matter, but we emphatically deny that CSC engaged in any false claims or other wrong doing in association with this case," said CSC spokesman Mike Dickerson.

The settlement resolves a complaint against CSC filed by Norman J. Rille and Neal A. Roberts in September 2004 under whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. The complaint alleged that the information technology services provider had knowingly solicited and received payments from a number of companies with whom it had alliance relationships, amounting to kickbacks and undisclosed conflicts of interest.

The settlement is part of a larger, ongoing federal investigation of government technology vendors that has resulted in the filing of complaints against Hewlett-Packard Co., Sun Microsystems Inc. and Accenture Ltd.

Last August, International Business Machines Corp. and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP agreed to pay nearly $5.3 million combined to settle allegations stemming from the same investigation. Representatives for both companies said the settlement was not an admission of guilt, and specifically denied the kickback allegations.

Rille and Roberts will receive an amount to be determined in the near future, the Justice Department said.

CSC shares fell $1.40, or 3 percent, to $46.04 in afternoon trading. Shares have traded between $36.91 and $63.76 in the past 12 months.

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