The Flores family and their company, KDHK, a janitorial services company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, have agreed with the U.S. government to pay an additional $2.5 million over their involvement in submitting false claims for housekeeping contracts at U.S. Army facilities.
The Department of Justice said on Monday that the defendants, Kenneth Flores, Irma Flores, and KDHK, agreed to pay $2 million, and Christopher Flores will individually pay $500,000 for their roles in the fraudulent scheme.
In August 2023, Messrs Flores and Ms Flores pleaded guilty in federal court in Texas to fraud and gratuities charges.
The Flores family conspired to defraud the U.S. by manipulating the awards and prices of housekeeping contracts for army hospitals and medical centres, eliminating competition.
Between November 2018 and June 2020, the family conspired with government employees Karisa Kelley and John ‘Chip’ Mathes, who helped their company secure or inflate contract values worth millions of dollars in return for bribes and kickbacks, the DOJ said.
Following their guilty pleas, Judge Fred Biery sentenced Mr (Kenneth) Flores to four years in prison, Mr (Christopher) Flores to two years, and Ms Flores to five years of probation. They agreed to pay $3.7 million in restitution.
Previously, the U.S. government secured judgements imposing more than $547,613 in civil penalties against the two federal employees.
After their sentencing, the government filed a civil lawsuit against the family members and their company, alleging they unlawfully conspired with federal employees to secure a Hawaii housekeeping contract and inflate the value of another in Washington.
“In furtherance of that scheme, Christopher Flores and his company submitted fabricated invoices for cleaning supplies to the other defendants, which were then used to fund gratuity payments to the federal employees,” the DOJ said.