GAO report on fraud and abuse questions contract to Tampa's Furniture Fixtures & Equipment Office Solutions

WASHINGTON — A Tampa company got a $900,000 Air Force contract through a federal program benefiting veteran-owned businesses but funneled the job to another firm, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The GAO report on fraud and abuse cites 10 examples in which firms obtained $100 million in contracts under the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program. It was presented at a meeting of the House Committee on Small Business.

The Tampa case involves Furniture Fixtures & Equipment Office Solutions, which got the $900,000 contract through MacDill Air Force Base to design and install furniture.

But the company, which consists of one man and is based at a mail box rental store, passed along the work to a furniture dealer his wife works for, which passed it on to a manufacturer, according to the report. It said the company owner works full time at MacDill.

According to the Florida Division of Corporations, the company chief executive is Dwaine Zitko. He could not be reached Thursday.

From the GAO: "This award is questionable on three counts: the SDVOSB owner's full-time job with another employer should make it impossible for him to manage and control daily business operations on a large SDVOSB contract; the contract work was passed through to the manufacturer; and the owner's daily interactions with Air Force personnel on base create the perception of preferential treatment. In addition … the legitimacy of the SDVOSB firm is also in question because the firm's physical address is the owner's home and its mailing address is a mail-box rental store."

U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, filed a bill this summer his office said would tackle the problem.

The bill would require all federal agencies and prime contractors to consider only those businesses that are verified in the database of veteran-owned businesses that the VA runs under the Center for Veterans Enterprise.