Law Commons^™

Prosecution Of Minor Subcontractors Under The Major Fraud Act Of 1988, Chris Liro

Michigan Law Review

In the late 1980s, a series of well-publicized defense contractor abuses brought the ordinarily obscure topic of government contracting into the public eye. These abuses included not only instances of seemingly wasteful charges, like the infamous $600 toilet seat, approved by a complicit Department of Defense, but also examples of truly fraudulent activity such as knowingly overbilling and supplying inferior quality goods. The fraud cases grabbed the public attention for three primary reasons. First, enormous sums of money were involved. Second, the nature of the fraud often posed a direct danger to United States troops, potentially compromising "national security." Finally, …