Article is dated August 22, 2012, and therefore not necessarily breaking news, but is news to us. And we should start connecting the dots. In addition to the justice department suit, here is a recent Reuters report on Gallup's polling. http://www.reuters.com/...

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Original article:

Link: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/...

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department said Wednesday that it has joined a lawsuit against The Gallup Organization alleging the polling company filed false claims on contracts with the U.S. Mint, the State Department and other government agencies.

Tim Dillon, USA TODAY

The Justice Department building in Washington.

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Tim Dillon, USA TODAY

The Justice Department building in Washington.

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A fired Gallup employee who became a whistle-blower, Michael Lindley, alleges in the lawsuit that he discovered shortly after going to work for the polling company that it had engaged in widespread fraud against the government.

Honored as "Rookie of the Year" at Gallup in 2009, Lindley says he was fired six months later when he told colleagues that if the company didn't report overbilling practices to the government, Lindley would do so himself.

His lawsuit, filed nearly three years ago and unsealed Wednesday in federal court, says Gallup routinely submitted inflated cost estimates which enabled the company to reap huge profits from its government business.

In addition to its polling work, Gallup provides consulting services to government, corporate and other clients around the world.

The Justice Department said it was stepping into the case with respect to Gallup's contracts with the Mint and the State Department.

In response, Gallup general counsel Steve O'Brien said, "We believe that the allegations and the legal theory that the Justice Department is using are entirely meritless."

O'Brien said the work involved fixed-price contracts that were all competitively bid and paid for as agreed. Now, said O'Brien, the government is saying "the price should have been something else."[...]