Welders work on a U.S. Coast Guard cutters as roofers, top right, rebuild at Bollinger Shipyard in Lockport on Monday, September 27, 2021. Hurricane Ida swept through the area causing damage to several of the buildings. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter being built at Bollinger Shipyard in Lockport on Monday, September 27, 2021. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
Welders work on a U.S. Coast Guard cutters as roofers, top right, rebuild at Bollinger Shipyard in Lockport on Monday, September 27, 2021. Hurricane Ida swept through the area causing damage to several of the buildings. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter being built at Bollinger Shipyard in Lockport on Monday, September 27, 2021. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
Bollinger Shipyards, the Louisiana-based boatbuilder, has agreed to pay a $1.025 million settlement to resolve allegations that it improperly billed the U.S. Coast Guard for labor provided by “ineligible” workers.
The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Louisiana said in a news release Thursday that the allegations stem from a contract Bollinger won to build the Coast Guard’s Fast Response Cutters from 2015 to 2020.
According to the release, Bollinger was required to confirm that its employees were allowed to work in the United States under the terms of its Coast Guard contract but “failed to comply with this requirement and, as a result, several ineligible employees worked on the contract.”
The release also alleges that Bollinger billed the Coast Guard for the labor provided by the ineligible employees and received payment for those bills, a violation of the federal False Claims Act.
Bollinger President and CEO Ben Bordelon did not return a call or text message seeking comment.
In a prepared statement, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton said, “It is essential to the safety and operational readiness of our fleet that contractors comply with all contractual requirements.”
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s office, the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, the federal Office of Inspector General and the Coast Guard.
“Companies that conduct business with the United States are required to do so in a legitimate manner,” said U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans for the Eastern District of Louisiana. “The favorable resolution of these False Claims Act allegations illustrates the collaboration and commitment by our federal partners to use all available remedies to address signs of fraud, waste and abuse.”
Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@theadvocate.com.
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