More bad news for USProtect, GSA
By Martha Entwistle
Updated Wed October 10, 2007
Okay, so not only does the GSA have a bribery problem, it has a not-doing-its-job problem, too.
The Washington Times (America's newspaper, dontcha know) reports that USProtect, the company that bribed its way to government contracts back when it was known as Holiday International, wasn't even on the up-and-up when it put in its application for GSA scheduling.
Richard Hudec, 44, was charged in federal court in Maryland last week with tax evasion and concealing information about his background, which included four felony fraud convictions, in connection with his role as chairman and chief operating officer for USProtect Corp., a private security company.
Oops.
But, of course, Hudec isn't the story here. I include items like this for your perusal not because this is somewhat related to the practice of installing security systems, but because many of you have to work with the GSA, and there is now more than a little reason to doubt the GSA's competence.
Some details of Mr. Hudec's incarceration can be obtained over the Internet. For example, the federal Bureau of Prison's free public inmate locator database — www.bop.gov — shows that Mr. Hudec was released from prison on Feb. 21, 2001.
According to charging documents, Mr. Hudec "assisted in the preparation and submission" of the security company's application to the General Services Administration in 2002, which once approved placed the company on the federal supply schedule, a clearinghouse of government-approved contractors.
The application listed Mr. Hudec as chief operating officer and improperly certified that no principals of the company had any fraud judgment within the past three years, authorities said.
Okay, so that may be some crappy writing on the part of the venerable Times, but it essentially makes the point that you could have Googled this guy and discovered he was a felon. I'm all for giving people a second chance, but something in my gut says people who've been convicted of multiple fraud counts maybe shouldn't be working with the federal government.
USProtect is competing with a number of well respected companies for this government work. Is the GSA keeping appropriate tabs on your competitors as you vie for contracts?
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