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Belgian Security Firm, Executives Indicted for Rigging U.S. Defense Contracts

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment against Belgium-based Seris Security NV (Seris) and three executives for their roles in a conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids and allocate customers for defense-related security services, including a multimillion-dollar contract issued in 2020 to provide security services to the U.S. Department of Defense for military bases and installations in Belgium.

The indictment charges former G4S Chief Executive Officer Jean Paul Van Avermaet; Seris Security NV (Seris); former Seris Chief Executive Officer Danny Vandormael; and former Seris Director of Guarding & Monitoring Peter Verpoort with conspiring to fix prices, rig bids and allocate customers for contracts for the provision of security services that protect the national security interests of the United States in Belgium.

According to the indictment, the charged individuals, on behalf of their companies, along with other co-conspirators, participated in a conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids and allocate customers for contracts to provide security services in Belgium, including contracts for the U.S. Department of Defense and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The conspiracy, which began as early as spring 2019 and continued until as late as summer 2020, resulted in non-competitive and inflated bids, and deprived the government of a competitive bidding process.

“The companies and individuals indicted are alleged to have rigged bids submitted to the U.S. Department of Defense and others, and abused the public trust placed in them as providers of security services at critical locations,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard A. Powers of the Antitrust Division. “We are committed to prosecuting procurement collusion that victimizes U.S. government agencies, wherever it occurs, and we are determined to hold those who seek to exploit U.S. government programs accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

The defendants are each charged with a violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals and a $100 million fine for corporations. The maximum fine for a Sherman Act charge may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime if either amount is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

The Antitrust Division’s New York Office is prosecuting the case, which was referred to the PCSF by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) of the U.S. Department of Defense. The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s New York Field Office, with assistance from the DCIS.