U.S. database giant Oracle settles price-gouging claim: report

U.S. database giant Oracle Corp. has agreed to pay 98.5 million U.S. dollars to settle price-gouging claims against its PeopleSoft unit, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

Software maker PeopleSoft Inc., which was acquired by Oracle last year, overcharged the government by providing false pricing information to the General Services Administration (GSA).

The civil settlement, reached at the U.S. District Court in Maryland, was disclosed at a news conference in Washington as officials announced a new task force targeting procurement fraud.

Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty said the task force, established by the department's criminal division, would detect and prosecute fraud associated with increased contracting activity for national security and other government programs.

The settlement with Oracle resolved allegations that PeopleSoft understated to the GSA the discounts it provided to commercial customers.

GSA regulations require that a vendor disclose its commercial pricing policies during negotiations for a single contract, which can give a vendor access to hundreds of government purchasers.

As a result of the defective disclosures, the government alleged, federal purchasers buying through the GSA program paid inflated prices for software and maintenance services for many years.

Source: Xinhua