The U.S. Postal Service offers discounts to mailers who pre-sort their mail by zip code, which in turn saves the Postal Service time and money. California-based Quicksort, Inc. and its various subsidiaries and sister companies combine and sort the mail of its customers in order to trigger the discount. According to the DoJ, however, Quicksort violated the False Claims Act by overstating the amount of its pre-sorted mail, not only fraudulently obtaining unqualified discounts but also causing the Postal Service to incur additional sorting costs. Quicksort has agreed to pay $4.2 million to resolve the allegations.

“Making false claims to obtain discounted postage rates is dishonest, and such conduct interferes with the Postal Service’s effort to swiftly and accurately deliver the mail,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. “We will hold businesses accountable for underpaying for postage and will ensure that taxpayer funds are protected from fraud and abuse.”

To report False Claims Act violations, contact Frohsin & Barger.