United States Investigations Services
The United States Investigations Services is a US firm known for being contracted to perform the background checks for individuals whose jobs required a security clearance.[1][2] The USIS was first hired in 1996.
On January 23, 2014, the US Department of Justice filed fraud charges against the outside contractor firm that recommended Edward Snowden was eligible for a security clearance.[1][3] The USIS was accused of routinely failing to properly investigate individuals, when it had been contracted to perform their background checks. The firm also recommended a security clearance for Aaron Alexis, who worked at the Washington Navy Yard, until he killed 12 co-workers.
While the USIS was first hired in 1996, the charges apply only to the 650,000 background checks it had performed since March 2008.[1] whistleblower Blake Percival filed a report on the firm under the False Claims Act in July 2011.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sakthi Prasad. U.S. brings fraud charges against firm that vetted Snowden, Reuters, 2014-01-23. Retrieved on 2014-01-25. “The U.S. Justice Department accused United States Investigations Services (USIS), the largest private provider of security checks for the government, of bilking millions of dollars through improper background verifications.”
- ↑ Joe Schneider. Security Firm Sued for Fraud by U.S. Over Background Checks, Bloomberg News, 2014-01-23. “USIS management, beginning at least in March 2008, started “dumping” or “flushing” cases to boost profit and revenue, which involved releasing the investigations to the government for payment and saying they were complete when they hadn’t received quality reviews as required by the contract, the U.S. said in the complaint, which cites internal company e-mails. A USIS employee said in one of the e-mails, “Shelves are as clean as they could get. Flushed everything like a dead goldfish.””
- ↑ Serge Schemann. Distrust in America, War in Syria and Protests in Ukraine, New York Times, 2014-01-24. “The complaint filed by the United States government against USIS thus underscored how extensively the government relied on contractors not only to do its secret work, but also to vet those very contractors.”
- ↑ Elizabeth Sheld. DOJ Claims Fraud Against Firm that Vetted Snowden, Breitbart News, 2014-01-23. “The original claim was brought by Blake Percival in 2011 under the False Claims Act that allows people to collect reward money for whistleblowing on fraud against the government. Percival's claim alleges USIS did not perform quality control on their investigations.”