An Arizona company that directly markets health and wellness products, Plexus Worldwide, has agreed to pay $600,000 to resolve allegations that the company violated the federal False Claims Act (FCA).
The settlement resolves allegations by the United States that Plexus presented mail to the United States Postal Service (USPS) for delivery with postage that was based upon and calculated with attributes not associated with the items mailed, which resulted in underpaid postage. The United States also alleged that Plexus mailed other items with re-used postage. According to the United States’ allegations, the postage Plexus affixed to the mailed items represented that postage had been appropriately paid, when in fact, it had not, and the misrepresentations facilitated Plexus’ underpayment or non-payment of postage.
As part of the settlement, Plexus admitted to underpaying postage and submitting duplicate postage that resulted in a net deficit of postage due to the USPS. Plexus also admitted that it presented mail to the USPS for delivery, even though the postage weights and other attributes used to calculate postage were underreported, resulting in underpaid postage and duplicates. Additionally, Plexus admitted that systems and controls were lacking, resulting in duplicate postage and in payments that understated the postage due.