Production company busted for billing food to the government instead of tech products

WASHINGTON (7News) — Ventana Productions, Inc. agreed to pay the United States $50,000 to resolve allegations that the company was charging the Government for products and services that were actually employee food expenses.

On Wednesday, the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia announced that it had reached a settlement with Ventana after looking into claims that the company was billing the Department of Commerce for various information technology products and services.

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After receiving an anonymous tip, the Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) investigated and found seven different instances of Ventana invoicing the Census Bureau for nonexistent items. Ventana faked purchases of things like hard drives, parking and media transfers, which in actuality were purchases from restaurants including Dunkin Donuts, Corner Bakery, Panera Bread, and Joe Theismann’s Restaurant.

Rather than having to pay the $1,533.27 that was the total of all the food expenses, the production company had to settle potential claims for damages and penalties under the False Claims Act and pay the U.S. significantly more, said the OIG.

Ventana had previously performed multimedia production support work for the U.S. Census Bureau under two General Services Administration contracts and had been falsely billing the Bureau from July 2019 to February 2024.

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“Waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars will not be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “Every day, this Office works aggressively to expose fraud and abuse that diverts taxpayer dollars from their intended purpose. Contractors have a duty to bill the government honestly, and when they violate that trust, we will act decisively to hold them accountable.”

“Disguising employee meal expenses as information technology products and services undermines the integrity of the federal procurement process. Any attempt to falsely bill the Department will not be tolerated,” said Judd Leinum, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General.