Feds suing vendors for procurement kickbacks

The AP carrying this story, which just can’t be good news for anyone involved:

The Justice Department has joined a lawsuit against Hewlett-Packard Co., Sun Microsystems Inc. and Accenture Ltd. that alleges the companies gave kickbacks to federal consultants in order to get favorable treatment in winning government technology contracts.

In a statement, Sun Microsystems said it has fully cooperated with the audit process and will “address the resulting claims in a fair and impartial forum.”

Hewlett-Packard said it is confident its business practices are appropriate.