Hanford Contractor Reaches Settlement in Fraud Case

SPOKANE (AP) — A Hanford Nuclear Reservation contractor has agreed to pay more than $5 million to settle a time card fraud case with the federal government.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Spokane on Thursday announced the settlement with Washington River Protection Solutions LLC.

The settlement resolves allegations that WRPS knowingly submitted false claims to the U.S. Department of Energy between 2008 and 2013. That includes the submission of false time cards by workers' seeking payment of overtime and premium pay.

The settlement agreement between the government and WRPS requires the contractor to pay the full $5.2 million settlement within 30 days. The settlement recovers more than double the alleged loss caused by WRPS's alleged false time card schemes.

Hanford is located near Richland and is involved in the cleanup of nuclear waste.