British Airways and Iberia Airlines Agree to Pay $5.8 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations for Falsely Reporting Delivery Times of U.S. Mail Transported Internationally
Seattle Whistleblower Attorneys report that British Airways Plc (BA) and Iberia Airlines (Iberia) agreed to pay $5.8 million to resolve their liability under the False Claims Act for falsely reporting the times they transferred possession of United States mail to foreign postal administrations or other intended recipients under contracts with the United States Postal Service (USPS). BA and Iberia are international airlines headquartered in Harmondsworth, United Kingdom, and Madrid, Spain, respectively. BA and Iberia Airlines are both subsidiaries of the International Airlines Group.
USPS contracted with BA and Iberia to take possession of receptacles of United States mail at six locations in the United States or at various Department of Defense and State Department locations abroad, and then deliver that mail to numerous international and domestic destinations. To obtain payment under the contracts, the airlines were required to submit electronic scans of the mail receptacles to USPS reporting the time the mail was delivered at the specified destinations. Today’s settlement resolves False Claims Act allegations that scans submitted by BA and Iberia falsely reported the time the airlines transferred possession of the mail.
The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Source: Dept. of Justice.
USPS contracted with BA and Iberia to take possession of receptacles of United States mail at six locations in the United States or at various Department of Defense and State Department locations abroad, and then deliver that mail to numerous international and domestic destinations. To obtain payment under the contracts, the airlines were required to submit electronic scans of the mail receptacles to USPS reporting the time the mail was delivered at the specified destinations. Today’s settlement resolves False Claims Act allegations that scans submitted by BA and Iberia falsely reported the time the airlines transferred possession of the mail.
The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Source: Dept. of Justice.