CORP-EXPRESS TO PAY $5M TO SETTLE DISPUTE

[Anonymous]

Corporate Express To Pay $5M To Settle Dispute
BROOMFIELD, Colo. Corporate Express Inc. has reached a $5.02 million settlement of a false claims lawsuit stemming from products that the office supply business sold to federal agencies, the Justice Department said Friday.
The Broomfield-based company was accused of selling products manufactured in countries that do not have reciprocal trade agreements with United States, the Justice Department said. It was prohibited from such sales under a contract with the General Services Administration.
A Corporate Express representative was not available immediately for comment.
Safina Office Products and two of its executives, Edward Wilder and Robert Hsi Chou Lee, filed the lawsuit in 2003 in U.S. District Court in Washington under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act.
Safina and the executives will receive about $753,000 under the provisions of the law, the Justice Department said.
Corporate Express is a subsidiary of Dutch-based Buhrmann NV, a global supplier of office products and graphic systems for the business market.

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February 23, 2006 at 10:10 AM