Pate, Johnson & Church has successfully represented whistleblowers for many years, resulting in a number of very large settlements on behalf of their whistleblower clients.
In this case, our client worked for GardaWorld Federal Service, LLC as a unit support coordinator within the emergency response team in Kabul, Afghanistan. In the complaint our firmed filed on behalf of our client against GardaWorld and its subsidiary, Aegis Defense Services, we allege that the federal government paid millions of dollars more than it should have for untrained and unfit private security staff to protect the U.S. Embassy and other diplomatic sites in Kabul.
Seeking comments, Law360 interviewed Page about the case. Page explained that “The defendants’ fraudulent conduct has put the Department of State’s personnel in Afghanistan at greater risk of being killed or wounded by terrorists, rioting mobs, and insurgents,” and “The Department of State believes that it is being protected by a private security force that is properly trained and physically fit. Despite paying for it, the Department of State is not receiving such protection.” Page also commented that “he’s glad the complaint has been made public so GardaWorld can be properly served with it and discovery can ensue. He said the government’s direct loss from paying for substandard protection in Kabul, as outlined in Fahn’s complaint, is likely to be at least $3 million, but that could be part of a larger problem.”
Despite the fact that the US Department of Justice declined to intervene in this case, our firm will continue to pursue the lawsuit. If successful, whistleblowers generally receive part of the total settlement under the False Claims Act in these types of cases.
