Crawford settles over-billing allegations

WASHINGTON—Crawford & Co. has agreed to pay nearly $1.4 million to resolve allegations that it submitted inflated invoices for providing federal employees with workers compensation services, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

Crawford & Co. said they admit to no wrongful conduct and that the settlement puts an old issue behind them so they can move forward.

Between 1992 and 2002, Atlanta-based Crawford allegedly billed the government for services at rates set by its managers rather than billing the actual time spent performing services.

"Additionally, the company allegedly billed the entire time spent on one activity to multiple clients files, instead of dividing that time between the applicable files, and attempted to pass along overhead expenses to the government by invoicing them as incurred costs," the Department of Justice said in a statement.

The allegations stem from services intended to streamline medical care and expedite employees' return to work.