Charged Under 41 U.S.C. 8702 What Happens Next

A charge under 41 U.S.C. § 8702 usually arrives after a long, quiet period. Procurement kickback matters begin with an audit referral, a company disclosure, or a former employee’s complaint, and they are worked for months before anyone is publicly accused. By the time a charge issues, the government has already collected the purchasing records, the expense reports, and often the device extractions.

That is worth knowing, because it shapes what can still be influenced. The record is largely fixed; the interpretation of it is not, and neither is the sequencing of the criminal case against the civil and administrative proceedings that follow the same facts.

On this page

The First Steps

If agents make contact before charges, decline to answer questions in the moment, decline consent to search phones or laptops, and say that you want a lawyer. That is not evidence of anything. It is the only way to preserve options while the facts are still being assembled.

Preserve records. Do not delete messages, wipe devices, or clean up files, and tell counsel what exists rather than deciding alone what is relevant. Deleting material after learning of an investigation can create a separate charge that is far simpler for the government to prove than a kickback.

Be careful about internal processes. A company may be running its own investigation under disclosure obligations, and an employee interviewed by company counsel is not speaking to their own lawyer. Understanding whose interests are represented in that room, before entering it, is one of the most consequential early decisions.

Initial Appearance, Release, and Arraignment

The first court event is an initial appearance, where the charge is read, representation is addressed, and release or detention is decided. In procurement matters release on conditions is the ordinary course, but conditions are negotiated and can include travel limits, surrender of a passport, reporting, and restrictions on contact with people who may be witnesses.

Those conditions matter more than they first appear when the people involved are colleagues and the systems involved are the employer’s. Where continued employment is important, that should be raised when conditions are set rather than sought as a modification later.

Arraignment follows, with a not guilty plea and a schedule. In a records-heavy procurement case the volume of discovery frequently drives the calendar, and there is often an interest in a realistic schedule rather than a fast one.

Discovery, Motions, and Resolution

Discovery means purchasing files, supplier correspondence, expense and travel records, pricing and cost data, audit workpapers, device extractions, and agent interview reports. The defense reviews it against the elements rather than as a story, because the aim is to find which element rests on inference and which rests on records.

Motions follow from that. They may target the sufficiency of the indictment, duplicity or multiplicity across the three statutory prohibitions, venue, the scope of a warrant, the admissibility of statements made in an internal interview, or disclosure of material bearing on the credibility of a cooperating former employee. Each has its own deadline, and a missed deadline can waive the issue.

Resolution comes by trial, by plea, or by dismissal of counts. Any plea decision should follow a complete guideline calculation and should account for the civil and administrative consequences the plea will trigger, because a criminal disposition supplies the factual basis for both.

What Runs in Parallel

The criminal case is one of three tracks. Civil liability under the same chapter can be pursued on a lesser showing, and a kickback priced into invoices frequently draws a claim under the civil false claims framework, sometimes brought by a former employee as a relator. The government can also recover administratively by withholding from or offsetting against contract payments.

Suspension and debarment run separately again and move faster than litigation. They turn on present responsibility rather than punishment, which means remediation evidence, personnel action, control changes, and how the conduct was detected and reported all matter. That record is built while the criminal case is open, and statements made on one track are usable on the others.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will there be an arrest?

In many procurement cases counsel can arrange a voluntary surrender or a summons rather than an arrest, particularly where the person is represented before charges issue. It is one of several practical reasons to engage counsel during the investigation rather than after an indictment is returned.

Can I keep working for the contractor?

It depends on release conditions, on the employer’s own action, and on whether the work touches the contracts or systems at issue. Employers under disclosure obligations often act quickly and independently of the criminal case. Where continued employment matters, raise it when release conditions are set and address the employment track on its own terms.

Should the company and I use different lawyers?

Usually yes. The company has disclosure obligations and reasons to characterize conduct as individual; the individual has personal exposure and reasons to describe an approved structure. Separate counsel protects both positions and clarifies who controls the privilege over internal investigation material the government may later seek.

What happens to the civil case while the criminal case is pending?

Civil proceedings are sometimes stayed while a criminal matter is open, and sometimes they are not. Where they proceed, discovery in the civil case can create risk in the criminal one, and the interaction has to be managed deliberately. That is a question to raise early rather than after civil discovery has begun.

How long will this take?

It varies with discovery volume, the number of defendants, and the motions filed. Federal law sets time limits for bringing a case to trial with defined exclusions, and those limits and exclusions should be confirmed with counsel against current statutory text. Records-heavy procurement cases frequently take longer than the limits alone would suggest.

Is anything still possible before charges issue?

Yes. Counsel can preserve evidence properly, establish whether a person is a target, a subject, or a witness, respond to subpoenas, manage the disclosure and debarment exposure, and where appropriate present the case for declination or for a civil resolution instead of a criminal one. That period is when the shape of the matter is still open.

Mr. Sris and the Firm’s Of Counsel Attorneys

After a procurement kickback charge the record is largely fixed, but the interpretation of it and the order in which the three enforcement tracks are addressed are still open.

Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., is a former prosecutor and founded the firm in 1997. He is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. His background at George Mason University in accounting and information systems is applied to complex financial and technology-related cases, which is the category most federal procurement and public-integrity matters fall into. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys, who contract directly with the firm, work on federal criminal matters together.

The firm represents contractors, subcontractors, purchasing and sales personnel, and company officers from the investigative stage through sentencing and the proceedings that follow it. To discuss a matter, call (888) 437-7747 to request a consultation.

Disclaimers

This page describes what follows a procurement kickback charge under 41 U.S.C. § 8702 in general terms for people trying to understand a federal process. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. Federal statutes and the decisions interpreting them change over time, so confirm anything stated here against the current statutory text with counsel before acting on it.

Every federal matter turns on facts that belong to that matter alone. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

Attorney responsible for this advertising: Mr. Sris. Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. Call (888) 437-7747 to request a consultation; the firm’s intake line is staffed 24/7.

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Being charged is one stage of the case. Our page on anti kickback act procurement charges sets out the offence from start to finish.