Postal contracts awarded to DeJoy-run company were questioned in 2001 USPS audit
Heidi Przybyla
NBC News•September 14, 2020
https://news.yahoo.com/postal-contracts-awarded-dejoy-run-093041636.html
WASHINGTON — A two-decade-old audit of mail equipment transport contracts by the U.S. Postal Service's inspector general found that a company previously run by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy was awarded multiple noncompetitive contracts by the Postal Service that may have cost consumers as much as $53 million more than if they'd been competitively bid.
The 2001 audit found that New Breed Logistics, a supply chain services provider based in North Carolina,
was awarded more than $300 million in Postal Service mail equipment transport contracts that could have come in at a much lower price had they been shopped competitively to a range of vendors.
The audit, reviewed by NBC News, made it clear that the premise for awarding any noncompetitive contracts to a single vendor, such as New Breed, "did not fully meet Postal Service requirements" and "potentially exposed the Postal Service to cost and performance risks."
The contracts awarded to New Breed, beginning in 1992, were to operate a pilot mail transport equipment service center in Greensboro, North Carolina. DeJoy was chief executive of New Breed from 1983 to 2014.
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New Breed's financial practices have also been cited in reports to Congress.
In a semiannual report in March 1999, the Postal Service inspector general flagged New Breed leasing contracts, saying $33 million paid to New Breed could have been "put to better use." A report in September of that year flagged $9 million more paid to New Breed that could have been "put to better use."
The irregularities cited in the audit, Williams said, underscore why he pressed for a full background check when DeJoy he was nominated for postmaster general.
"I don't understand how an offer could have been extended before a background check was completed," Williams said.
The postmaster general at the time of the New Breed overpayments was William J. Henderson, a former Postal Service official from Greensboro, North Carolina, who was appointed in 1998. Henderson said he didn't recall ever having seen the audit.
"We had tons of logistics partners while I was in the Postal Service, and I really didn't get into selecting particular partners or reviewing those sorts of things since they were done by purchasing," Henderson said.
The inspector general at the time, Karla Corcoran, retired in 2003 after a federal investigation found that she had abused her authority, wasted public money and promoted questionable personnel practices. Corcoran's job was to root out waste and fraud.
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