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.