Hunt Companies settles housing fraud claim at Dover Air Force Base
Hunt Companies officials have agreed to pay $ 500,000 to resolve allegations of fraud involving its military housing operations at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, in a settlement reached with the Department of Justice.
Government officials allege that the company submitted false information to the Air Force about the execution of work orders between January 2013 and June 2019 in order to obtain higher performance bonuses, according to documents filed in court Delaware Federal. The government’s claims were in part based on a whistleblower lawsuit filed in January 2020 by a former Hunt employee.
The whistleblower, Christine Kibler, was the Community Housing Director at Dover AFB, and her responsibilities included operational and financial oversight of the housing. She worked there from April to June 2019, when she was fired, according to court documents.
“When corporations jeopardize the well-being of the military to maximize their profits, they are deceiving the government and all those who serve our country. We will not tolerate such disappointing conduct, ”said David Weiss, the US District Attorney for Delaware, in a statement announcing the settlement.
According to Hunt’s website, it is the largest owner of military housing in the United States, with approximately 52,000 housing units located in more than 40 military installations, including Army, Navy, the air force and the marine corps.
While Kibler worked in the housing community for just a few months, “what she went through deeply disturbed her,” according to the initial complaint.
As part of his duties, Kibler inspected homes that were being prepared for new residents and discovered issues such as mold, fire safety and ventilation issues, and water leaks, according to the reports. court documents. But instead of fixing the issues, company employees forged service tickets to indicate the issues had been resolved, she alleged. These tickets were submitted to the Air Force to ensure that the company would continue to receive financial performance incentives, she alleged.
When raising her concerns to a company official in June 2019, Kibler received no feedback, she said. She offered to send a spreadsheet of the information she had gathered, but the official told her he didn’t want it and “firmly” told her not to raise her concerns in an e-mail. -mail. On June 17, 2019, Kibler was fired because she “was not the right person,” according to court documents.
Settling a fraud case is not an admission of guilt on the part of Hunt officials, nor a concession by the government or the whistleblower that the allegations are unfounded.
The court settlement document says no agreement has been reached on whether Kibler will receive any money from the settlement.
Hunt Military Communities, a subsidiary of Hunt Companies, has cooperated fully with the Justice Department throughout the DOJ’s investigation, which began in January 2020, according to a statement Hunt officials provided to the Military Times. “The civil settlement agreement with the DOJ makes it clear that the settlement” is not an admission of liability “and that HMC” expressly denies the allegations “underlying the settlement. The DOJ has confirmed that its investigation is now closed.
“Our top priority is to serve our military families and our partners with honesty, integrity and transparency,” said Brian Stann, president of Hunt Military Communities, in the statement. “We are delighted to have resolved this investigation and to start the New Year with a renewed sense of passion and purpose in serving our residents. “
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for over 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book “A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families “. She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Florida and Athens, Georgia.