WASHINGTON (AP) — Fastenal Co., which makes nuts, bolts and other fasteners, as well as tools and other products, agreed Thursday to pay the U.S. government $6.25 million to settle a claim it had overcharged the government for hardware.
The case relates to a contract the Winona, Minn.-based company had with the General Services Administration beginning in 2000 to sell hardware to government customers. The company said it discontinued the contract in 2005.
After a GSA audit done in 2005-2006, the government alleged Fastenal knowingly overcharged the government by failing to provide discounts offered to other customers. The case was turned over to the Justice Department, which threatened to sue the company in July 2010. The company and the government have been in settlement talks since then.
“The Justice Department is acting to ensure that government purchasers of commercial products can be certain that they are getting the prices to which they are entitled,” Tony West, assistant U.S. attorney general for the civil division, said in a statement.
The settlement resolves the case, and the company agreed to comply with the price reduction clause of its contract, a GSA statement said.
The company said in a statement that it has agreed to make an immediate one-time payment of $6.25 million.
“We continue to believe that we complied with our obligation under the GSA contract in all material respects. However, we felt a continuation of our dispute with the DOJ and GSA was not the best use of our resources,” it said…
Read the full Article via Fastenal pays $6.2M to settle government complaint – Bloomberg.