TCPN says "Avoid Bid Process"

Friends:

Part of a Power Point Presentation by TCPN.  I may share the whole presentation in  another post, but this is the mentality.

Your Presenter and Response Team

Presenter: Tom VanHootegem

 

Response Team:

 

•Pam Gonzalez, our TCPN Contract Holder

•Scott Wynne, TCPN Program Manager

The TCPN Difference

•Single lead government agency for all TCPN contracts

–Region 4 Education Service Center, Houston, TX

•Highest level of consistency & compliance

•ISO 9001 Certified solicitation process

–Supports education nationwide

•Curriculum development

•Teacher certification

•Braille production center

–3rd party audits of vendor contracts

 

Benefits

•TCPN Member Benefits

–Legal contract vehicle (competitive solicitation)

–One contract for multiple commodities

–Avoid bid process

–Highest level of contract compliance

–Meet buy local commitment

–Save TIME & MONEY

•TriMega Dealer Benefits

–One contract for all public sector accounts

–Competitive advantage vs. competition

–Avoid bid process

–Competitive national pricing at local level

–TCPN program manager support

 

 

 I will break down each point, and illustrate most of them to be absolutely false.  Stay tuned.
 

Anyone who deals with schools, administration, facilities management, public roofing purchasing should read this.  I've already illustrated how TCPN is intertwined in their Tremco relationship, the players involve, and how TCPN pushes a "Locked Specification" with them.

 

How can any governmental agency, or government purchasing cooperative, continue such a dangerous, illegal, and "exclusionary" tactic (paid for by the taxpayers)?

 

The  "Exposure" to roofing scams has already been established by the DOJ. 

 

 

 

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/August/13-civ-968.html

 

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

RPM International Inc. and Tremco Inc. Pay Nearly $61 Million for Failing to Provide Government Discounts Provided to Others

Companies Allegedly Submitted False Claims Under Defectively-priced Roofing Contracts

Ohio-based RPM International Inc. and its subsidiary, Tremco Inc., have paid $60.9 million to resolve allegations that Tremco filed false claims in connection with two multiple award schedule (MAS) contracts with the General Services Administration (GSA) for roofing supplies and services, the Justice Department announced today.  Tremco failed to provide the government with price discounts provided to non-federal government customers.   Tremco also allegedly marketed expensive materials to government purchasers without disclosing the availability of the same materials at lower cost that were manufactured and sold by the company.   Tremco is a manufacturer of construction products and services and is a subsidiary of the RPM Building Solutions Group.  

“Companies that knowingly skirt the rules for securing government business undermine the integrity of the procurement process and create an unfair advantage against companies that are playing by the rules,” said Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division.   “We are committed to ensuring a level playing field and protecting taxpayer dollars.”

 

Allegedly, from January 2002 to March 2011, Tremco knowingly violated its contractual obligations to provide GSA with current, accurate and complete information about its commercial sales practices, to report changes in discounts to comparable commercial customers and to pass those discounts on to government customers.  As a result, the government allegedly paid more than it should have for Tremco’s services and products.   In addition, Tremco allegedly improperly marketed generic products as a superior line of the same product and used a defective adhesive formula in its roofing systems.

 

The GSA MAS program provides government purchasers with a streamlined process for procurement of commonly used commercial goods and services.  To be awarded a MAS contract, and thereby gain access to the broad government marketplace and ease of administration that comes from selling to hundreds of government purchasers under one contract, contractors must agree to disclose commercial pricing policies and practices.

GSA Inspector General Brian Miller said, “GSA OIG auditors and investigators worked diligently to make sure the taxpayers got the benefit of required price reductions, and received a fair price for the products and services purchased with taxpayer funds.”  

“These companies are paying the price for trying to cheat the American taxpayer out of a fair deal,” said Ronald C. Machen Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.   “We thank this whistleblower for coming forward to reveal this wrongdoing.   Other contractors who are considering bilking the government should take heed:  false and fraudulent claims on the U.S. Treasury will not be tolerated.”

 

The settlement resolves a qui tam, or whistleblower, lawsuit filed on behalf of the government by former Tremco vice president Gregory Rudolph, who will receive more than $10.9 million as his share of the recovery in the case.  Under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, private citizens can bring lawsuits on behalf of the government and share in any recovery.   Rudolph’s lawsuit also includes allegations on behalf of several states under their false claims statutes.   The settlement with the federal government does not resolve the state actions.

 

This settlement was the result of a coordinated effort by the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and GSA’s Office of Inspector General to investigate the allegations and resolve the case.   The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

 

The case is captioned United States, the States of California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia and the City of Chicago, ex rel. Gregory Rudolph v. Tremco Inc. and RPM International Inc. , Case No. 1:10-cv-01192 (D.DC) .

13-968

Civil Division

 

If they got fined 60+ million dollars, imagine how much they got away with?

 

TCPN and Tremco are a ticking time bomb, and I will suggest anyone who reads this to step clear of the heartbreak.

 

I will break down each and every person involved, what they do, the companies they do it for, and you will be astonished.  I have so much documentation and will take time to "connect the dots" for you in a very comprehensive way.

 

You have a CHOICE, and must reject any "mandate" to buy from a "preferred vendor".  Next time they get caught, you may find yourself tangled around the axle of the bus they threw you under.

 

 

 

 

 Friends, I only provide the data, and it is you who are the judge.

Thank you for spending precious time with me here, and am humbled you care what I have to say.

Please reject negativity in all forms, and always remember to keep looking "UP".

Respect,

Robert R. 'Ron" Solomon
Director, Roof Consultant's Alliance
CCC 1325620 (Florida)