A small technology contractor that won more than $500 million in Internal Revenue Service awards in less than a year had a “cozy” relationship with an agency official, according to a congressional staff report.

Greg Roseman, an IRS deputy director, may have “influenced the selection process” to benefit his friend, Braulio Castillo, president of Washington-based Strong Castle Inc., according to the House committee document. The two exchanged frequent phone calls and text messages, the report shows.

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, led by Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican, is investigating how the small business, formed in late 2011, managed to attract so much contract business. The panel plans to hold a hearing tomorrow.

“What has led to the huge discrepancy between the potential for $500 million in contracts with the IRS alone and the mere $465,780 awarded by all other federal government agencies?” the report’s authors asked. “The difference is that the IRS -- where Strong Castle received well over 99 percent of its 2012 revenues -- employs Castillo’s long-time friend, Greg Roseman, who oversaw each and every contract awarded to Strong Castle by the IRS in 2012.”

A Strong Castle official wasn’t immediately available for comment, according to a representative who answered the phone at the company’s office. The company describes itself as a provider of “IT infrastructure and solutions for many federal customers.”

Foot Injury

The company was eligible for contracts that had been set aside for disabled veterans and for small businesses in economically disadvantaged communities. Castillo had suffered a foot injury in 1984 at the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School, which he attended for a year, according to the report.

Castillo had no other connection to the military and his injury did not prevent him from playing softball as an adult, congressional investigators said.

“The case of Strong Castle and its cozy relationship with the IRS is but one example of a deeply flawed procurement process in the federal government,” according to the report.

The IRS has been surrounded by controversy since May 10, when the agency disclosed that it had subjected Tea Party groups applying for tax-exempt status to tougher scrutiny. Six congressional committees have opened inquiries and the Justice Department is pursuing a criminal probe. President Barack Obama installed a new temporary commissioner, Danny Werfel, last month.

The IRS didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment on the Strong Castle report.

Witness List

The witness list for tomorrow’s House hearing includes Roseman and Beth Tucker, IRS deputy commissioner for operations support, who oversees the agency’s back-office operations, is scheduled to testify tomorrow.

Roseman has been reassigned and isn’t overseeing procurement, according to a staff memo sent to Democratic members of the oversight committee. His attorney has told the committee that he will invoke his constitutional right not to testify at the hearing.

“Today, the IRS cannot look taxpayers in the eye and truthfully say they are protecting their contributions to government,” Issa in a statement. “By inappropriately using a personal relationship and abusing a provision designed to help disadvantaged businesses, the IRS and Strong Castle have made a mockery of fair and open competition for government contracts.”