Government programs are designed to help the people. But sometimes, some companies might abuse these programs in order to generate a bit more profit. Unfortunately, it looks like Dish was caught up in fraud allegations by the Department of Justice (DoJ), but have ultimately decided to settle.
Dish settles with DoJ over fraud allegations
According to the DoJ, Dish has agreed to settle the fraud allegations by paying $17 million to resolve the False Claims Act. However, despite agreeing to settle, Dish’s parent company EchoStar continues to deny any wrongdoing.
In a statement made to Fierce Network, an EchoStar spokesperson said, “Throughout the program’s duration, we cooperated with government inquiries and proactively instituted process improvements to address gaps and potential abuse by third-party retailers.”
They also add, “While we deny any wrongdoing and do not admit fault, we have agreed to this settlement in the interest of moving forward and putting this legacy matter behind us. Our focus remains on delivering great wireless service to our customers.”
US Attorney Jeanine F. Pirro for the District of Columbia has also provided a statement on the outcome. According to Pirro, “Dish and its employees fraudulently signed up ineligible applicants to receive federal monies. By doing so Dish received payments which they were not entitled. This is a shameful act on the part of a large corporation that is rightfully required to pay $17 million.”
What really happened?
For those unfamiliar, the FCC launched the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBBP) and Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). These programs were designed to help low-income households get access to broadband internet. However, according to the DoJ, Dish had fraudulently enrolled thousands of ineligible subscribers through Boost Mobile. They also sought federal reimbursements.
There were also allegations that internal sales employees trained and directed third-party agents to submit inaccurate applications. This was then submitted to the FCC’s National Verifier.
EchoStar has denied all this, as we mentioned earlier. The company also claimed that it simply followed procedure through the use of the National Verifier. In any case, it looks like the case has been settled and in the rear view mirror.
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