2020 Census Contractor Agrees to Pay $8,000,000 to Settle Fraud Allegations

Maximus, Inc., a government services contractor based in Virginia, has agreed to pay the United States $8 million to resolve allegations that it misled the United States Census Bureau about the quality of its call handling as a contractor for the 2020 Census. The settlement resolves allegations brought by whistleblowers under the federal False Claims Act.

Maximus operated several multi-lingual call centers throughout the United States that took incoming calls from individuals with questions about Census operations and made outgoing calls to assist individuals in responding to the Census. Its contract with the United States Census Bureau also required Maximus to perform services to assess the quality and data accuracy of its call center operations. Maximus employed quality monitors to score calls for the accuracy of the call taker’s data input and adherence to standards of professionalism and decorum, based on a set of scoring standards agreed on between Maximus and the Census Bureau. In addition to compensation for its costs incurred, the contract provided that Maximus would receive an “award fee.” An “award fee” is a contract incentive paid to encourage contractors to meet certain contract goals. The Census Bureau used the call quality scores Maximus reported to help determine an appropriate “award fee” to pay Maximus. 

The United States alleges that Maximus provided the Census Bureau inaccurate or misleading score information to improve the Census Bureau’s impression of the quality of Maximus’s work. While the contract required Maximus

to score a random sample of calls, the United States alleges that Maximus encouraged its quality monitors to choose which calls to score in a way designed to 
improve the quality scores reported to the Census Bureau. The United States contends that Maximus did not tell the Census Bureau about these practices, which artificially increased the quality scores and permitted Maximus to receive greater award fees than it would have received with accurate reporting.

Maximus cooperated with the investigation. The claims asserted against Maximus are allegations only; there was no determination or admission of liability. The lawsuit does not allege that Maximus manipulated any census enumeration data it helped collect.

The lawsuit arose under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act. The False Claims Act permits private citizens with knowledge of fraud against the government to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the United States and share in the recovery. The whistleblowers will receive a $1.2 million share of the settlement.        

“Government contractors must be honest and accurate in their reporting to their government partners. This is particularly true when the information they report affects the amount the government pays them. Our office is committed to holding accountable contractors that enrich themselves by misleading American taxpayers,” said United States Attorney Timothy T. Duax.

“The U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General is dedicated to investigating schemes to defraud U.S. Census Bureau contracts and programs,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Eric Arcand with the United States Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General (Commerce-OIG). “Census data informs policy and decision-making at all levels of government, and fraud affecting any aspect of the Census Bureau’s programs must not be tolerated. We are committed to protecting the Census Bureau’s funding and programs from fraud, waste, and abuse. We also appreciate the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa’s efforts toward resolving this matter.”

The case was handled by Assistant United States Attorneys

Brandon J. Gray and Brian J. Keogh and investigated by the Department of Commerce-OIG, particularly Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Judd Leinum.  

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