Unsubstantiated Allegations of Bid Rigging and Procurement Integrity Act Violations

The OIG investigated allegations that independent Government contractors colluded on bids for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) hay delivery contracts, that a BLM employee who was related to one of the contractors influenced the awards to benefit the relative, and that the contractors added weight to hay deliveries by watering the hay before delivering it to the BLM on contracts paid by the ton.We substantiated that one contractor assisted another contractor with bid packages for five separate contract solicitations from 2016 to 2019, but the evidence did not establish that they intended to work together on the contracts or that they discussed or developed the pricing component of their independent bids. BLM contract personnel detected the similarities between the bid packages before award and excluded both contractors from the contracts in question.We found no evidence the BLM employee attempted to influence the awards to benefit a relative. We also found no evidence that the contractors added weight to hay deliveries to the BLM.