Investigation into Overcharging U.S. Government for SAP Technology

Federal investigators are probing a potential $2 billion overcharging scheme involving SAP technology purchases by the U.S. government.

### Investigation into Potential Overcharging of U.S. Government for SAP Technology
* 🔍 The investigation focuses on a potential scheme involving the **overcharging of the U.S. government**, particularly the Department of Defense, for SAP technology purchases that may amount to **$2 billion over ten years**.
* 🏢 Recently, the FBI and Department of Defense conducted a search at Cara Soft's offices in Virginia, although it remains unclear if this is connected to a **civil investigation regarding potential price fixing**.
* 🤝 Sappy, involved in the investigation, claims to have been **cooperating with the Department of Justice (DOJ) since the beginning of the inquiry**.
* 📜 Accenture Federal Services, a subsidiary of Accenture, is also responding to an administration subpoena and is **cooperating with the DOJ** in this matter.
* 💰 Federal investigators are examining hundreds of contracts totaling **up to $2 billion** since 2014, as they seek to understand the **nature of the transactions and any potential wrongdoing**.
* ⚖ The investigation is being conducted under the **False Claims Act**, which permits the government to **recover three times its damages plus penalties** if wrongdoing is established.
* ❓ While it is uncertain whether fines will be imposed, the ongoing investigation could lead to **significant financial implications** for the parties involved.

What exactly is being investigated here, Jack. Thank you for having me. The investigation is into what is a potential scheme to, over the course of ten years, overcharge the U.S. government and primarily the Department of Defense for purchases of SAP technology through a variety of resellers, including Cara Soft, that total up to $2 billion. Jake, what's a carousel spokesperson told you is important in this story in the context of a raid that took place at Carousel. They gave you details but did not go as far as to confirm that it related to a relationship with their SAP. Please explain to the reporting. Absolutely. And that is a very important detail. Yesterday, FBI and Department of Defense investigators searched Cara soft offices in Virginia. However, we don't know whether or not that search is related to this separate civil investigation of kara soft and sappi over the potential price fixing. Okay. Let's dwell a little bit and also some

other comments that have been coming. Sappy says it's been cooperating with the DOJ in terms of the civil investigation since the beginning. We understand Accenture was also involved in this in some way. A spokesperson for that company, a subsidiary of Accenture, that's Accenture Federal Services, is responding to an administration subpoena and is cooperating with the DOJ. And the Justice Department didn't respond to requests for comment. What's interesting is, of course, the money you say and the amounts that are involved here, ultimately, how will this investigation continue and what could be the fine on the back of it? Well, so it's a great question. We don't ultimately know whether there will be a fine. But what we do know is that federal investigators are continuing their work, trying to understand what happened here and that they're framing this as potential wrongdoing related to a very large series of purchases, hundreds of contracts totaling as much as $2 billion.

over, you know, since 2014. And again, I should really emphasize, we don't know that anyone will ultimately be accused of any wrongdoing. But this is being investigated under the False Claims Act, and that allows the government to seek or to recover as much as three times its damages plus a penalty. So were that to, you know, were litigation to sort of commence there, the government could be looking at a lot of money.

US Probes SAP, Carahsoft for Potential Price-Fixing

Welcome to the Bloomberg Technology YouTube channel. Subscribe for original series and mini-docs on game-changing technologies, profiles on innovators, live conversations with experts, and breaking technology news & analysis from Bloomberg TV.

Bloomberg Technology

The investigation is focusing on a potential scheme to overcharge the U.

government, particularly the Department of Defense, for SAP technology purchases through resellers like Cara Soft, totaling up to $2 billion over ten years.

The FBI and Department of Defense recently searched Cara Soft's offices in Virginia, but it's unclear if the search is related to the ongoing civil investigation into price fixing.

Both Cara Soft and Accenture Federal Services are cooperating with the DOJ, and federal investigators are continuing to examine the large series of contracts involved in the case.

The investigation, ongoing since 2014, is focused on potential wrongdoing, although no accusations have been made yet.

The False Claims Act allows the government to recover up to three times its damages plus a penalty.

If litigation were to occur, the government could potentially recover a significant amount of money.