Office Depot Office Depot is engaged in widespread, fraud, corruption and overcharging on government contracts Nationwide

Office Depot: Profiteering in California and across the country....false profits, fraud, corruption, the tools of trade for Office Depot BSD (Business Solutions Division).

Profiteering is a pejorative term for the act of making a profit by methods considered unethical.

Office Depot has engaged in one of the greatest wide-spread frauds of government agencies in the last 100 years. In conspiratorial concert with a murky organization known as U.S. Communities, Office Depot has filled its pockets at the expense of taxpayers in California,Florida and across the country.

Currently six states (CA, TX, FL, CO, OH, MO,), and four federal agencies plus the SEC are investigating the company for wide-spread fraud.

Allegations by a protected whistle-blower in Florida (David Sherwin) and an account manager in California (Earl Ante), bring the chance of a wide spread corporate corruption charge against Office Depot closer to reality.

Office Depot on its recently released investor transcript trivialized its largest (U.S.Communities) contract as nothing more than a "hunting licence" for its aggressive sales force.

Office depot is now introuble as another former employee accuses the office supply giant of criminal fraud.

S.F. to Office Depot: How Much Were Those Paperclips Again?

SF Weekly
By Anna McCarthy in Government
Tuesday, Aug. 4 2009 @ 8:30AM


Has Office Depot taken the city for a ride?
?Let's hope the city saved its receipts. According to San Francisco's Director of the Office of Contract Administration, Naomi Kelly, the vast majority of the city's office supplies are purchased from Office Depot -- that would be the same Office Depot currently under investigation by the state Attorney General for overcharging on contracts with various public agencies around California (not to mention investigations currently under way in Missouri, Colorado, Ohio, and Texas). While a representative from the California AG's office would neither confirm nor deny the investigation, the FAQ section in the "investor relations" section of Office Depot's Web site does his job for him.

Kelly told SF Weekly that city employees in her office "became concerned when its spend rate for office supplies was higher than anticipated" -- and both the controller's office and city attorney were urged to conduct audits.

If said audit results in more money in San Francisco's pocket, it wouldn't be unprecedented. Last August, Office Depot reimbursed the state of California $2.5 million for overcharges during a two-year period of $57 million in state office supply purchases, according to California's Office of General Affairs. Since then, other cities nationwide have conducted their own audits with similar results. Officials in Berkeley recently uncovered evidence that the Depot overcharged them hundreds of thousands of dollars. Since filing their claim with the in April, a spokeswoman for the city says Office Depot has sent $289,000 Berkeley's way.


On the state level, the National Office Products Alliance (NOPA), an independent office products trade association, issued a press release a few weeks ago urging the the California Attorney General to look specifically at Office Depot's Walnut Creek-based US Communities contracts, which they allege resulted in "kickbacks" perhaps exceeding $20 million. A representative from US Communities said that these allegations are false, and clarified that the nonprofit -- which matches public entities with the cheapest office supply deals -- receives just one to two percent of the sales price from the vendors (including Office Depot, among others) to cover their administrative costs.

NOPA's release also claims that a number of federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Education, and the General Service Administration are conducting their own investigations into government contracts with the Depot.

Jul 6, 2009 11:52 am US/Mountain
Colorado AG Investigates Office Depot Pricing
Reporting
Rick Sallinger
DENVER (CBS4) ?
Office Depot may have been cheating school districts out of money. The company acknowledges it is under investigation by the Colorado attorney general's office.
The probe involves a major contract between Office Depot and the purchasing agent for public agencies in Colorado. Allegations have been made about "bait and switch" tactics on the pricing of items to institutions.
The company provides supplies to school districts in Colorado and throughout the country under a national contract negotiated through an organization called U.S. Communities.

The detailed criminal complaint was filed by a former Office Depot account manager David Sherwin. It states that the company engaged in trickery and deception, resulting in fraudulent overcharges.
"The state of Colorado is one of the 10 states that has been impacted the greatest in the United States," Sherwin said.
In North Carolina an audit found a $300,000 overcharge of state agencies. In California Office Depot paid $2.3 million to settle allegations of overcharges. Georgia terminated its $40 million contract after finding problems in pricing.
The Cherry Creek School District discovered irregularities in prices charged by Office Depot about a year and a half ago and has since resolved the issue.
In a statement to CBS4 the company wrote that it is aware with the Colorado attorney general's investigation and "will cooperate fully."
There is also a federal investigation. It is reportedly focused on purchases from Office Depot by the Department of Defense and the General Services Administration.


Colorado AG Investigates Office Depot Pricing - cbs4denver.com
Jul 6, 2009 ... Office Depot may have been cheating school districts out of money. The company acknowledges it is under investigation by the Colorado attorney general's office . ... Inside a Denver-area Office Depot store. CBS. Click to enlarge ... In a statement to CBS4 the company wrote that it is aware with the ...
http://cbs4denver.com/investigates/Offic... - 60k - Cached - Similar pages

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