PETALUMA, Calif., May 6, 2015/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As early as 1995 the Small BusinessAdministration (SBA) Inspector General uncovered rampant fraud in federal small businesscontracting programs. The American Small Business League (ASBL) reviewed 20 years ofinvestigations that found the SBA clearly knew about rampant fraud, butadopted policies that encouraged fraud and protected fraudulent firms to inflate small businesscontracting data.

The investigation found the SBA Press Office responded to thedamming Inspector General reports by claiming the fraud was the result of miscoding,computer glitches, anomalies and simple human error. They even releasedpress releases claiming the fraud was a "myth."

The Inspector General suggested in Report 5-14, "If SBA had put as much effort intoverifying whether the company currently met the award's size standard as it putinto trying to find ways to earn credit towards its small business goals, thenperhaps the contract action would have been awarded to a company that waslegitimately small at the time of award."

A 1995 SBA Inspector General investigation found evidence of a"particular fraudulent practice" where large businessescontinued to illegally misrepresent themselves as small to hijack federal smallbusiness contracts. The Inspector General recommended the SBA to publish a listof all the fraudulent firms and circulate the list to all federal agencies toprevent the fraudulent firms from continuing to receive small businesscontracts.

The SBA refused to adopt the Inspector General'srecommendations.  As a result, the fraudulent firms continued to receive billionsof dollars in federal small business contracts. The investigationsrevealed the SBA has continued to knowingly include contracts to fraudulentfirms in their annual small business contracting data for over 20 years.

In 2005, the SBA Inspector General released Report5-15 that stated, "One of the most important challenges facing theSmall Business Administration (SBA) and the entire Federal Government today isthat large businesses are receiving small business procurement awards andagencies are receiving credit for these awards."

Report 5-14 uncovered 66 percent of the high dollar procurements the SBA itselfhad reported as going to small businesses actually went to large businesses.One of those firms was Dutch corporate giant Buhrmann NV with over 26,000employees around the world.

Report 5-16 uncovered the SBA knew large businesses werecommitting felony federal contracting fraud by making "false certifications" and "improper small business self-certifications."

A series of federal investigations have all found fraud andabuse in federal small business contracting programs. In 2009, the GovernmentAccountability Office essentially accused the SBA of encouraging fraud. NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, CNBC, Fox Newsand RTTVhave all reported on the abuses.

For 20 years the SBA has refused to adopt policies to halt thefraud, but recently finalized the "safe harbor from fraud penalties" policy that helpsprotect fraudulent firms that are caught hijacking federal small businesscontracts.

To view full press release, click here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/inspector-general-uncovers-sba-encouraged-fraud-for-over-20-years-300078284.html?tc=eml_cleartime

PETALUMA, Calif., May 5, 2015/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- To date it has gone unreported in themainstream media that President Obama's 2016 Budget proposal to combine the SmallBusiness Administration (SBA) and the Department of Commerce is a mirror imageof Ronald Reagan's plan to permanently close theSBA and bring an end to all federal programs to assist the nation's 28 millionsmall businesses.

When Ronald Reagan tried to close the SBA it created anuproar that was reported on national television.

American Small Business League President LloydChapman first predicted President Obama would attempt topermanently close the SBA using Reagan's plan in November of2008.

Chapman also believes former Defense Intelligent Agency PublicRelations Officer, Terry Sutherland, was "assigned" to quietly take over the SBA Press Officewith the express purpose of blocking any media coverage of the plan to shutterthe SBA.

President Obama's first attempt to close the SBA came in January of 2012 when he announced plans to combine the SBA with the Department of Commerce. Chapmanlaunched a national media campaign to bring attention to the issue and releaseda barrage of blogs and press releaseson the issue.

Chapman appeared on Fox Newsand international news network RTTV tosound the alarm on President Obama's intention to close the SBA. Several journalists agreed with Chapman that the plan to combine the SBA and Commerce Department was actualitya plan to close the SBA.

A 2014 article in Forbes stated, "I agree with Lloyd Chapman, head of the American SmallBusiness League, when he warns that this is just another attempt to shutter oneof the only government agencies in place to help the nation's nearly 30 millionsmall businesses."

President Obama claims closing the SBA will "streamline the government."  Chapman has pointed out the SBA's budget is just .0001% of the totalfederal budget and closing the SBA would have a statistically undetectableimpact of the overall cost of government.

It has been widely reported trillions of dollars are unaccountedfor at the Pentagon. Chapman believes addressing those significantfinancial abuses would be a much more effective means to streamline governmentspending than closing the tiny SBA.

Chapman contends President Obama's true motivation to shutter the SBA is to cover up the rampant fraud and abuse that has beenuncovered at the SBA in a series of federal investigations. NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, CNBC, Fox News,and RTTVhave all reported on the fraud and abuse at the SBA.

Every year of the Obama Administration the SBA Inspector Generalhas named the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businessesas theagency's number one problem.

The House Small Business Committee has requested an investigation into fraud in federal smallbusiness contracting programs based onresearch done by Chapman's ASBL.

Chapman has begun filming a documentaryon his efforts to save the SBA and its programs.

To view full press release, click here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/obama-administration-achieves-media-blackout-on-sba-closure-plan-300077296.html?tc=eml_cleartime

PETALUMA, Calif., May 4, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Small Business League(ASBL) has completed a twelve-month investigation and analysis of threepolicies the Small Business Administration (SBA) has used to circumvent theSmall Business Act and defraud legitimate American small businesses out ofhundreds of billions in federal contracts.

Those SBA policies include miscoding, the SBA's exclusionaryrule and their five-year rule.

The ASBL'sresearch has been aided by legal opinions and counsel from ProfessorCharles Tiefer, one of the nation's leading experts on federal contracting law.

1.    Miscoding, computer glitches and anomalies - For over twelveyears the SBA has claimed the diversion of federal small business contracts toFortune 500 firms and their subsidiaries is the result of random errors mostcommonly referred to as "miscoding." The ASBLfound the supposed random "miscoding" errors did not have a random pattern ofdistribution but in fact always resulted in the diversion of federal smallbusiness contracts to large businesses. The ASBL also concluded itwas mathematically impossible for the "miscoding" to be actual randomerrors. The ASBL concluded the misreporting of federal contracts to largebusinesses and was clearly willful and intentional efforts by the SBA tofalsify the true volume and percentage of federal contracts awarded to smallbusinesses.

2.    The Five Year Rule – The SBA has used the "five yearrule" to justify the inclusion of billions of dollars in federal contractsto Fortune 500 firms, their subsidiaries, thousands of clearly large businessesand even foreign owned corporate giants like Rolls-Royce and British AerospaceEngineering (BAE). The SBA's "five year rule" has absolutely no basisin law and is in fact in direct violation of every provisionof the Small Business Act that established the legal definition of asmall business. Since no language in the Small Business Act supports the SBA's"five year rule" it is blatantly illegal.

3.    The Exclusionary rule - The SBA's "Exclusionary Rule"has been fabricated to dramatically inflate thepercentage of federal contracts to legitimate small businesses byusing a federal acquisition budget that is significantly lower than the actualtotal annual federal acquisition budget. The 23.39% of federal contracts theSBA claimed small businesses had received in FY 2013 used a total eligibledollar figure of just $355 billion. The SBA's "ExclusionaryRule" has no basis in law and is in fact in direct violation of the SmallBusiness Act that stipulates that small businesses shall receivea minimum of 23% of the total value of all prime contract awards. Alegal opinion by Professor Charles Tiefer found the actual total annual federalacquisition budget to beapproximately one trillion dollars.

The ASBL study concluded thatif all provisions of the Small Business Act were followed, the actualpercentage of federal contracts awarded to legitimate small businesses would beno more than 5% for FY 2013 and not the 23.39% claimed by the SBA.

To view full press release, click here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/asbl-finds-sba-policies-that-cheat-small-business-are-illegal-300076248.html?tc=eml_cleartime

PETALUMA, Calif., April 29, 2015/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Next week the Federal Government will celebrateNational Small BusinessWeek May 4-8. The weeklong celebration offederal small business programs could be spoiled by a series of federalinvestigations that have uncovered Fortune 500 firms are the actual recipientsof billions of dollars in federal small business contracts.

Every year of the last decade the Small Business AdministrationOffice of Inspector General has reported the diversion of federal smallbusiness contracts to large businesses as the numberone problem at the SBA.

Neither the SBA nor Congress has adopted any legislation orpolicies to halt the fraud and abuse that has been uncovered. Quite thecontrary, in February the SBA adopted the final rule of the "Safe harbor from fraudpenalties" policy that would provide legal protection for large businesses that are caughtcommitting fraud by illegally obtaining federal small business contracts.

SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweetwas chastisedby members of the House Small Business Committee for diverting billions infederal small business contracts to Fortune 500 defense contractors such asNorthrop Grumman and Raytheon.

An investigation released by the SBA Inspector General in 2005, Report 5-14,found the SBA's policy of diverting small business contracts to largebusinesses was illegal and was in direct violation of the Small Business Act. Report 5-16 discovered large businesses were committingfelony federal contracting fraud by making "false certifications" and"improper certifications."

As early as 1995, the SBA Inspector General found largebusinesses were committing a "particular fraudulent practice" to illegally obtainfederal small business contracts.

In 2003, the Government Accountability Office launched aninvestigation based on information provided by American Small Business League(ASBL) President and founder Lloyd Chapmanthat foundover 5,300 large businesses were the actual recipients of billions infederal small business contracts.

In the following years dozens offederal investigations continued to find Fortune 500 companies and theirsubsidiaries were hijacking federal small business contracts.

Federal Judge William Alsuphas accused the Pentagon of trying to "cover up" and "suppress the evidence" in the Pentagon's smallbusiness subcontracting programs. Professor Charles Tieferissued a legal opinion on the Pentagon's smallbusiness-subcontracting program describing it as a "sham."

In March, the House Small Business Committee unanimously adoptedan amendment to request a new GAOinvestigation into fraud in small business programs based on research doneby Lloyd Chapman's ASBL.

ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox News and RTTV allreported on the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporategiants.

The latest threat to federal small business programs has comefrom President Obama when he included a proposal in his FY 2016 budget to resurrect a plan by Ronald Reagan to permanently close the SBA and endall federal programs for small business by combing the SBA with the Departmentof Commerce.

The ASBL has produced a documentaryto save the SBA.

To view full press release, click here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-small-business-week-mired-in-allegations-of-fraud-300073930.html?tc=eml_cleartime

PETALUMA, Calif., April 22, 2015/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pentagon is facing a new legal challenge totheir refusal to release any data on the controversial ComprehensiveSubcontracting Plan Test Program (CSPTP) that has survived over 25 years. TheAmerican Small Business League (ASBL) has issued another Freedom of InformationAct request for the specific section or page from every plansubmitted to the CSPTP by every Pentagon prime contractor that would indicatethe firm's company-wide small business subcontracting goal since the programbegan in 1989.  

The ASBL believes the Pentagon will have no legal justificationfor withholding the information they have requested. They also expect the datato prove the Pentagon has used the CSPTP to cheat small businesses out ofbillions of dollars in subcontracts since the program began over 25-years ago.

In November of 2014, the ASBL won a case against the Pentagonseeking the latest subcontracting plan submitted to the CSPTP by SikorskyAviation Corporation.

The Pentagon has now appealed that case to the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals. In a November 6, 2014 hearing onthe Sikorsky case Judge Alsup stated, "and here is the United States covering it up." In asubsequent hearing on January 20, he described theASBL as being in a "David and Goliath" battle with "biggovernment" and stated, "They are trying to suppress the evidence."

The Pentagon adopted the CSPTP under the pretense of "increasing subcontracting opportunities for small businesses."In reality the program eliminated all publicly available documents that could beused to verify a prime contractor's compliance with the small businesssubcontracting goals established by the Small Business Act.

The CSPTP also eliminated any and all penalties primecontractors had previously faced, such as "liquidated damages," for failing to comply with theirsmall business subcontracting goals.

The ASBL believes the Pentagon has refused torelease any data on the CSPTP for over 25 years because it would prove thePentagon has fraudulently eliminated subcontracting opportunities forsmall business.

In September of 2014, Professor CharlesTiefer released a legal opinion of the CSPTP that stated "The program isa sham and its extension will be seriously harmful to vitalopportunities for small business to get government contracting work ... Let itexpire."

The Pentagon now has until May 16, 2015to respond to the ASBL's most recent Freedom of Information Act request on theCSPTP and until May 1 to file their appellantopening brief with the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals in the Sikorsky case.

"It's shocking when you realize the Department of Justiceis helping the Pentagon to cover-up evidence of apparent contracting fraud. Theinformation I have requested must be incredibly damaging because it looks likethere is nothing they won't do to suppress the evidence. I'm anticipating aclassic anti-whistleblower campaign from the Department of Justice againstmyself and the ASBL," stated ASBL PresidentLloyd Chapman.

To view full press release, click here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pentagon-facing-new-challenge-to-25-year-old-sham-test-program-300069915.html?tc=eml_cleartime