Michael Hendrickson, DOE False Claim Scheme, ID 2024

Michael Hendrickson, 56, of Idaho Falls, is going to prison for duping the U.S. Department of Energy in a scheme that funneled $80,000 in government funds into his own pocket through lies and misrepresentation. Hendrickson was sentenced yesterday to one year of confinement, including six months of imprisonment followed by six months of home detention, after pleading guilty in November 2017 to filing a false claim with the federal government.

The fraud unfolded while Hendrickson worked for Paramount Supply of Idaho Falls, a contractor supplying equipment to the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). In April 2009, he created a second business entity—details of which remain sealed in court records—and began running a shadow operation. By June and July 2010, while still on the payroll at Paramount, Hendrickson ordered valves and transmitters from his employer specifically for the INL, knowing they would be billed to the federal government.

Hendrickson shipped the equipment to the INL and submitted invoices to Battelle Energy Alliance, the contractor managing operations for the Department of Energy. The billing falsely claimed the goods were sold by his private business, not Paramount Supply. Payment of approximately $80,000 was routed directly to his shell operation, even though Paramount had footed the initial cost for all items.

The scam didn’t just defraud the government—it gutted his own employer. Because the products were Paramount’s property, Hendrickson’s actions amounted to theft on two fronts: stealing from his employer and then tricking federal contractors into paying him for stolen goods. The government, none the wiser at the time, effectively reimbursed a crime.

U.S. District Judge David C. Nye didn’t let Hendrickson off lightly. In addition to his sentence, the court ordered $337,000 in restitution to Paramount Supply—the full financial toll of the fraud and lost business. Hendrickson must also pay a $5,000 fine and will serve three years of supervised release once his confinement ends.

The case was cracked open by investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Energy Office of Inspector General, whose joint probe exposed the paper trail of falsified invoices and misdirected payments. U.S. Attorney Bart Davis confirmed the sentencing, underscoring that stealing from federal contractors is a direct hit on American taxpayers—and that such crimes will be met with full legal force.

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