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Military Housing Fraud: Hunt Companies Pays $500K
22 Jul
Summary
- Hunt Companies paid $500,000 to settle fraud allegations.
- False work order data was submitted for incentive payouts.
- A whistleblower's lawsuit prompted the investigation.
Hunt Companies will pay $500,000 to settle allegations of fraud related to military housing at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. The Justice Department accused the company of submitting falsified completion reports for work orders between January 2013 and June 2019. These false submissions aimed to fraudulently increase performance incentive payouts from the Air Force.
The investigation gained momentum from a January 2020 whistleblower lawsuit initiated by Christine Kibler, a former community director for the housing. Kibler alleged that company employees fabricated service tickets to show issues like mold and ventilation problems were resolved, despite them persisting.
When Kibler raised these concerns in June 2019, she was reportedly told not to document them via email and was subsequently fired. Hunt Military Communities stated its full cooperation with the DOJ investigation and emphasized that the settlement is not an admission of liability, while expressly denying the allegations.
The settlement does not determine if the whistleblower will receive any portion of the funds. Hunt Companies, a major owner of U.S. military housing, expressed its commitment to serving military families with honesty and transparency.
