DOJ: 3% budget hike

The president’s budget request for the Justice Department in fiscal 2014 is $27.6 billion, a 3% increase over enacted fiscal 2012 levels, the agency announced.

The budget identifies $561 million in additional savings and rescissions.

It includes $4.4 billion for national security missions, $395 million to fight gun violence, and increases of $93 million for cybersecurity, $55 million for prosecution of financial crimes and $25 million to process the immigration caseload.

DHS: 2% cutback

The Homeland Security Department is requesting $39 billion in net discretionary funding (not including disaster relief) for fiscal 2014, which is 2% below the fiscal 2012 enacted level.

The budget request includes $1.3 billion in savings from administrative support areas, including “contracts, information technology, travel, personnel moves, overtime, directed purchasing, professional services and vehicle management,” officials announced.

The proposal includes a $100 million reduction for the Secret Service, a $100 million cut for federal air marshals, and “several hundred million dollars” less for Coast Guard maritime activities, the Associated Press reported.

Small PR contracts

Small agencies offering public relations and communications services are popular with federal agencies, according to PR Week.

Small public relations agencies captured 32% of government communications contracting awards in fiscal 2011, PR Week said.

“Government agencies are increasingly realizing that small businesses can actually do the work and have the same capabilities as a larger firm,” James Krol, executive director of the Small Business Government Communicators Network, said in the article.

More information: PR Week article: http://goo.gl/bOs3p

Attorney pleads guilty

Attorney Seung E. Oh, also known as Sandy Oh, of Great Falls, VA, admitted to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration’s 7(a) loan guarantee program.

Oh, who is the owner of Washington Settlement Group title company, helped loan broker Jade Capital smuggle risky loans into the SBA’s 7(a) program, the DOJ said.

The scheme cost taxpayers $100 million.

Pleas in bribery case

Two more guilty pleas have been entered in the $30 million bribery and kickback fraud prosecution involving the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Army, federal authorities announced.

Nova Datacom LLC and its former president, Min Jung Cho, pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from their roles in the ring.

Nova Datacom admitted to paying more than $15 million in bribes to three public officials in return for contracts. The company also admitted paying more than $790,000 in kickbacks to executives of two companies that channeled government subcontracts to the firm.

To date, 15 individuals and the company have acknowledged their roles in the fraud ring led by Kerry Khan and Michael Alexander, former program managers at the Army Corps.

OASIS Industry Day

The General Services Administration has scheduled an industry day on May 13 for its upcoming professional services procurement vehicle known as OASIS.

Registrations for the event are due by April 26. The multi-billion-dollar OASIS has two tracks: unrestricted and small business-only.

More information: GSA Interact http://goo.gl/r37dV

Another 8(a) reversal

For at least the sixth time since December, the Small Business Administration’s Office of Hearings and Appeals has overturned an SBA decision regarding social disadvantage in an 8(a) application, according to attorney Steven Koprince.

Koprince has been highlighting the cases in recent blog entries. They involve women and a disabled veteran, among others. (See Set-Aside Alert 4/5/2013 issue)

In the most recent case, the hearings and appeals office said the SBA failed to properly consider the evidence when it denied the application of Mill Mike Manufacturing Corp. and its owner Tamyra Valentine.

“I have to wonder what, if anything, the SBA is doing to fix the fundamental problems SBA OHA continues to point out,” Koprince wrote.

More information: Steven Koprince’s blog: http://goo.gl/H1TD8