Verizon Pays $93.5 Million to Settle Government Whistleblower Lawsuit

Washington, DCVerizon Communications Inc. recently paid more than $93 million to resolve government whistleblower allegations that it overcharged on invoices for telecommunications service contracts, the Wall Street Journal reports.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">According to the news provider, the Justice Department claimed Verizon subsidiary MCI Communications Services Inc. charged the General Services Administration for a number of taxes and surcharges that violated contracts.

An investigation by the department discovered that Verizon and MCI had allegedly submitted false claims related to the taxes and surcharges, the news source said.

"Verizon has cooperated closely with the government throughout the process and resolving this dispute is positive for all parties," Verizon spokesman Peter Lucht said. "There is a disagreement on certain fees, but this settlement concludes efforts by both parties to resolve this dispute amicably and without further litigation."

According to the news provider, Verizon has worked with the government under its current contract for a decade, providing security communications, IT and network services to clients in the public sector.