Office Depot Faces whistleblower charges in Fed Court of deliberately overcharging Uncle Sam

Dozens of governmental agencies were significantly and deliberately overcharged by millions of dollars for pens, ink, furniture and other goods under a contract with Office Depot says whistleblower David Sherwin, former Office Depot salesman handling government accounts. Sherwin filed a whistleblower case in fedral court under the False Claims Act which allows for a reward for revealing fraud in billing the government. His lawsuit says that Office depot intentionally misapplied discounts and changed prices in violation of its agreements. It also failed to fulfill the lowest-price guarantees and switched some customers to an alternate pricing option without telling them it would cost them more money, the suit says. The most recent contract which was in place between 2006-1020 was used by about 10,000 government and nonprofits nationwide for $3.6 billion in purchases. Some state agencies also may have been defrauded. In 2011, Dalla County accused Office Depot of not offering its lowest prices through the contract and is demanding $1.8 million.