US Authorities and Panalpina settle civil complaint
According to an agreement reached with the US Authorities, Panalpina will pay US$375,000 to settle a civil complaint regarding violations of the US False Claims Act. Panalpina Houston – amongst others – had been named as a defendant in a qui tam civil complaint filed several years ago by a private party on behalf of the US government. The complaint alleged that, in connection with the provision of logistics services, a former Panalpina employee provided unlawful entertainment to a customer’s employees. The civil complaint concerns nominal entertainment expenses allegedly incurred in violation of the US False Claims Act by the Panalpina employee, which involved employees of Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) under the US government’s Logistics Civil Augmentation Programs (Logcap III). The majority of the alleged expenses involved the purchase of soda, meals and golf green fees. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, neither Panalpina nor the US government admit or deny any of the allegations, but have mutually agreed to close the investigation and dismiss the complaint, which was filed by qui tam plaintiffs, with prejudice. The agreed settlement payment of US$375,000 is substantially lower than settlement amounts paid by other defendants named in the plaintiffs‘ complaint, which reflects the level of Panalpina’s cooperation, its strong compliance program, and the fact that the alleged activities involved a former employee – without the knowledge, approval or involvement of the company’s current management. After learning of the allegations, Panalpina conducted an internal investigation and concluded that any persons allegedly involved in any improper activity were no longer employed by the company. Quelle: eyefortransport Portal: www.logistik-express.com |