The following appears on washingtonpost.com
A fast-growing government contractor based in Tysons Corner has been linked to investigations into alleged efforts to inflate the revenues of a software company ahead of its acquisition by Hewlett Packard in 2011, according to government documents obtained by The Washington Post. Hewlett Packard claimed the following year that the alleged fraud cost it $8.8 billion.
MicroTechnologies LLC is among two companies and six executives who are said to have taken part in the efforts to boost the revenues of software maker Autonomy before its sale to HP, according to documents prepared by the Air Force deputy general counsel’s office that raised the possibility of barring all the parties from receiving federal contracts.
In 2012, Hewlett Packard claimed in financial filings that Autonomy had worked for years to deceive it and the public about its true value, triggering sweeping fraud investigations by authorities here and in Britain.
The Air Force documents include a letter and memo sent to MicroTech on Sept. 6 that provide details about MicroTech’s alleged role in the HP matter. HP has alleged “pre-acquisition accounting improprieties, disclosure failures, and misrepresentations by former Autonomy senior management,” the Air Force memo said. MicroTech had allegedly engaged in “accounting improprieties” with Autonomy — allegations that are “sufficient to support your proposed debarment,” the letter said.
Contracting and Air Force documents show that MicroTech worked with Autonomy to resell the larger company’s software to the government and to other private-sector customers. The Air Force is one of HP’s largest government customers. The Air Force letter said that in some cases MicroTech and Autonomy claimed to close out millions in software deals “when no transaction closed at all.”
It is not clear from the Air Force documents what MicroTech received for its work with Autonomy.
MicroTech declined to address details about the Air Force letter, a “show cause” notice asking the firm to explain why it should not be debarred.
“MicroTech has responded fully and completely to the Air Force’s show cause notice,” said Kristopher Parker, MicroTech’s attorney. “We have followed all applicable laws and regulations, and look forward to continuing to provide quality support to the Air Force.”
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