The Justice Department announced today that Sky Lease I Inc. (Sky Lease) has paid $1,030,000 to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it falsely reported information about the transfer of U.S. mail to foreign posts or other intended recipients under contracts with the U.S. Postal Service.
Sky Lease is an air cargo delivery company with headquarters in Miami, Florida.
USPS contracted with Sky Lease to take possession of U.S. mail receptacles at locations in the United States and at various Department of Defence and State Department locations abroad, and then deliver that mail to numerous international and domestic destinations.
To obtain payment under the contracts, Sky Lease was required to submit electronic scans of the mail receptacles to USPS, reporting the time the mail was delivered at the identified destinations.
The settlement resolves allegations that Sky Lease’s scans falsely reported the time it transferred possession of the mail.
The Department of Justice expressed its commitment to ensuring that government contractors provide the services they have contracted to provide.
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said, “When contractors knowingly fail to provide services for which they have been paid, the Department of Justice will pursue appropriate remedies to redress the violations and deter future ones.”
The USPS contracts with commercial airlines for the safeguarding and timely delivery of U.S. mail to foreign posts, according to Executive Special Agent in Charge Ken Cleevely of the USPS Office of Inspector General.
“The OIG supports the Postal Service by aggressively investigating allegations of contractual non-compliance within the mail delivery process, including the falsification of delivery information,” Cleevely explained. “Our special agents worked hand-in-hand with the Department of Justice to help ensure a reasonable resolution, and we applaud the exceptional work done by the investigative and legal teams.”
According to the DOJ, the resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, with substantial assistance from the USPS Office of the Inspector General and the USPS Office of General Counsel.
“The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability,” said a statement by the Justice Department.
