The General Services Administration used “egregiously flawed” market research in deciding to purchase 150 Chinese-made video conferencing cameras that did not comply with U.S. trade standards, the agency’s oversight office said in a see Office of Inspector General Report here: https://www.gsaig.gov/content/gsa-purchased-chinese-manufactured-videoconference-cameras-and-justified-it-using
The U.S.-based firm, which was unnamed and designated only as “Company A” in the report, provided the agency with cameras manufactured in China that did not comply with the 1979 Trade Agreements Act, and includes known security flaws that still need to be addressed, according to GSA’s Office of Inspector General. In June 2022 analysis issued by an unnamed IT security company highlighted five vulnerabilities in the equipment, and added that the equipment can be turned into “rogue wireless network gateways” that can be used to secretly access the camera owners’ networks, according to the oversight report.
If you have information relating to Chinese made goods sold through the GSA, you may be able to advance a whistleblower case under The False Claims Act or under the SEC whistleblower program if the company selling it is publicly traded.
Jeffrey Newman Esq. and members of his firm represent whistleblowers under the False Claims Act and SEC, CFTC and FINCEN whistleblower programs. Persons providing original information to these agencies through counsel may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of a successful recovery made by the SEC, CFTC OR FINCEN and the names and identification of the whistleblowers are kept confidential. His firm also represents whistleblowers in healthcare fraud cases relating to Medicare of Medicaid. Attorney Newman can be reached at Jeff@Jeffnewmanlaw.com or at 617-823-3217
