Feral Jundi

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Industry Talk: PSC That Handled The White House’s ‘Burn Bag’, Files For Bankruptcy

This isn’t good. lol I mean a lot of attention is put on overseas security contracts, but what about stuff like this? I am not familiar with TW & Co. but it is odd to me that they would owe this much in taxes and no one, to include the Secret Service, did not know about this? Or they knew what was going on, and they just looked the other way. Who knows?

Which also begs the question, why is a company like this even allowed to ‘sell off’ it’s contracts, and especially after showing such irresponsibility? How about kicking them off the contract, and re-bid the thing using ‘best value’ as a tool to get the best deal for the White House?

The 617-worker company said it would use the bankruptcy case to shut down its operations and sell off its 22 contracts for the best price it can find.

And if the Secret Service is in charge of this stuff, that maybe they should keep a little closer tabs on the companies that operate this close to the Presidency? (although they have been busy with their own problems recently….)

In my view, every company that works there, should be the best and most squeaky clean companies out there.  Hopefully, whomever they sell these 22 contracts too will be responsible folks that actually pay their taxes. –Matt

 

Security Firm Handled White House’s ‘Burn Bag’
By Katy Stech
April 30, 2012
The government contractor that disposed of the White House’s secrets kept one of its own: It hasn’t paid its taxes in full since 2008.
That admission came spilling out into bankruptcy court less than a week after Maryland-based security-guard provider TW & Co. filed for Chapter 11 protection owing nearly $3 million on its federal tax bill. The 617-worker company said it would use the bankruptcy case to shut down its operations and sell off its 22 contracts for the best price it can find.
“The end game is an orderly liquidation,” bankruptcy attorney James Greenan told Bankruptcy Beat.
So far, a bankruptcy judge has allowed the company to transfer management of its biggest contracts to a subcontractor, ensuring that the federal institutions like the historic Winder Building, some Smithsonian buildings and several Air Force bases don’t go unwatched as the company searches for a buyer to take on the work permanently.


Among its duties, TW & Co. was hired to handle the White House’s burn bag starting in 2007, according to papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Greenbelt, Md.
No one at the White House press office responded to a request for more information about its burn bag, but a security guard who stood outside the compound earlier this month explained that the burn bag is how the White House disposes of its secrets. Documents that are too classified for the shredder get taken offsite in the burn bag to an incinerator, a practice that’s common at other federal agencies that handle highly classified information.
That contract will be sold off in a few months—a process that will be closely watched by the federal government, Greenan said. The sale of that contract and others will raise money to pay off the company’s tax bill and its other debts.
Still, the Justice Department’s tax division immediately raised concerns about the company’s request to borrow another $1 million that would pay its employees and the financial professionals who would wind up its operations. Department attorneys argued that such spending could chip away at what the Internal Revenue Service ultimately recovers.
“Granting [permission to borrow that money] may well be little more than throwing good money after bad,” Justice Department officials said in court papers.
Story here.

2 Comments

  1. Thanks for posting this story.  An interesting tidbit is TW & Company took over some of the contracts of USProtect had after the company went under for practically the same thing.  The phrase, “Like father, like son” comes to mind.

    Comment by SamuelW — Tuesday, May 1, 2012 @ 6:45 PM

  2.  @SamuelW  That’s interesting. lol

    Comment by feraljundi — Tuesday, May 1, 2012 @ 8:24 PM

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