United States v. Sequel Contractors, Inc.

Proceedings: (IN CHAMBERS)

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On October 22, 2004, qui tam plaintiff Sialic Contractors Corp. (“Sialic”) filed its First Amended Complaint under seal against Sequel Contractors, Inc. (“Sequel”) and JHTM & Associates, Inc. (“JHTM”), alleging violations of the Federal False Claims Act and the California False Claims Act.

Sialic alleges the following facts; Orange County hired JHTM to manage construction projects at the John Wayne Airport (“Airport”). JHTM’s duties included managing the County’s construction contracts with Sequel, a paving contractor. For each construction project, JHTM prepared a Job Order which estimated the cost of the project and sent the Job Order to Sequel. After Sequel completed the project, Sequel prepared a Payment Request which JHTM reviewed and forwarded to the County with JHTM’s approval. The County paid Sequel according to these Payment Requests. Sialic alleges that JHTM and Sequel worked together to overstate the amount of work Sequel performed, causing Orange County to overpay Sequel.

On June 1, 2005, Orange County (with Sialic, “Plaintiffs”) filed a Complaint in Intervention (“CII”) against Sequel, JHTM, Thomas S. Pack, Mitchell…