Lawrence engineering firm to pay more than $670K to settle false claims allegations

Executives of an engineering firm based in Lawrence will pay to settle allegations that the company submitted false claims to get grant funds, according to a Monday news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Between April 2012 and July 2015, KalScott Engineering Inc. received Small Business Innovation Research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), NASA and the Air Force, according to the release. The company also received a Small Business Technology Transfer Program grant from the Navy, the release states.

The government contends that the company obtained grant funds from NASA and the Navy wrongfully because it designated its vice president, Suman Saripalli, as a principal investigator, though he was not eligible to serve in that role, according to the release. The government also alleges that KalScott did not perform a majority of work under the Air Force grant and that it used different key personnel than those who were listed in the company’s proposal to obtain the NIH grant.

Saripalli and the firm’s president, Thomas Sherwood, will pay $672,352 to settle the claims, which “are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability,” according to the release.