**GAO-09-174**                      Published: Feb 25, 2009. Publicly Released: Feb 26, 2009.                  

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## Highlights

To protect the government's interests, any agency can exclude (i.e., debar or suspend) parties from receiving federal contracts or assistance for a range of offenses. Exclusions of companies or individuals from federal contracts or other funding are listed in the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS), a Web-based system maintained by GSA. Recent allegations indicate that excluded parties have been able to receive federal contracts. As a result, GAO was asked (1) to determine whether these allegations could be substantiated and (2) to identify the key causes of any improper awards and other payments detected. GAO investigated parties that were excluded for offenses such as fraud, theft, and violations of federal statutes and received awards in excess of $1,000.

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## Topics

Government Operations

Assignment of contract proceedsContractor debarmentDatabase management systemsDatabasesErroneous paymentsFederal agenciesFederal fundsFederal procurementFederal records managementFunds managementGovernment contractsImproper award of contractInvestigations by federal agenciesInvestigations into federal agenciesPrivate sectorProcurement policyProcurement practicesQuestionable procurement charges