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Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program: Case Studies Show Fraud and Abuse Allowed Ineligible Firms to Obtain Millions of Dollars in Contracts

GAO-10-255T Published: Nov 19, 2009. Publicly Released: Nov 19, 2009.
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Highlights

The Small Business Administration (SBA), which, along with federal procuring activities, administers the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) program, reported in fiscal year 2008 that $6.5 billion in federal contracts were awarded to firms who self-certified themselves as SDVOSBs. Government contracts to SDVOSBs accounted for only 1.5 percent of all government contract dollars paid in fiscal year 2008. Since the SDVOSB program began, the government has not met its annual mandated goal of 3 percent. In addition to SBA's statutory authority over administration of the SDVOSB program, several other government agencies have separate authority over issues related to the SDVOSB program. The Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to maintain a database of SDVOSBs and Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) so contractor eligibility can be verified on VA SDVOSB and VOSB contracts. In addition, The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), within the Office of Management and Budget, provides overall direction for governmentwide procurement policies, regulations, and procedures and to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the acquisition processes. The Office's primary focus is on the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), the governmentwide regulation governing agency acquisitions of goods and services, including SDVOSB set-aside and sole-source contract actions.

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Data collectionFederal regulationsFraudInvestigations by federal agenciesInvestigations into federal agenciesProgram abusesProgram evaluationProgram managementSet-asidesSmall businessSmall business assistanceSmall business contractsVeteransVeterans benefitsWaste, fraud, and abuse