Montreal-based CGI Group Inc. installed a delinquent tax collection system for Hawaii.
The state Legislature called for an audit of CGI to look into the $25 million contract the company got for the delinquent tax system and several other contracts.
A former Tax Department employee raised what appear to be legitimate concerns about the department's relationship with CGI, said House Finance Chairman Marcus Oshiro (D, Wahiawa), who voted for the audit.
Those concerns include the way CGI contracts were awarded and a revision of the delinquent tax contract, relieving CGI of some its original commitments, Oshiro said.
"The way that the contract was renegotiated and reformulated raises some questions," Oshiro said. The revised contract "tended to be a benefit more to them (CGI), rather than the state of Hawaii."
Also of concern is the relatively large amount of money that CGI receives from contracts that were not subject to competition, Oshiro said.
CGI installed the Tax Department's $53 million Integrated Tax Information Management System, followed by nearly $35 million in noncompetitive contract awards to CGI by the Tax Department.
The audit was driven by testimony from former tax research officer Tu Duc Pham. In his April 7 written testimony before the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Pham said administration officials usurped Tax Department Director Kurt Kawafuchi's authority by preventing him from renegotiating the delinquent tax contract. Other Tax Department officials negotiated the revised contract with CGI that significantly favored CGI, Pham said.
"All CGI obligations regarding their work in the original contract were forgiven," said Pham. "The new re-scoping contract releases CGI from performing millions of dollars of services."
http://www.staradvertiser.com/business/20100615_CGI_facing_state_probe.html?id=96358064
There's more...lots more.
The state Legislature called for an audit of CGI to look into the $25 million contract the company got for the delinquent tax system and several other contracts.
A former Tax Department employee raised what appear to be legitimate concerns about the department's relationship with CGI, said House Finance Chairman Marcus Oshiro (D, Wahiawa), who voted for the audit.
Those concerns include the way CGI contracts were awarded and a revision of the delinquent tax contract, relieving CGI of some its original commitments, Oshiro said.
"The way that the contract was renegotiated and reformulated raises some questions," Oshiro said. The revised contract "tended to be a benefit more to them (CGI), rather than the state of Hawaii."
Also of concern is the relatively large amount of money that CGI receives from contracts that were not subject to competition, Oshiro said.
CGI installed the Tax Department's $53 million Integrated Tax Information Management System, followed by nearly $35 million in noncompetitive contract awards to CGI by the Tax Department.
The audit was driven by testimony from former tax research officer Tu Duc Pham. In his April 7 written testimony before the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Pham said administration officials usurped Tax Department Director Kurt Kawafuchi's authority by preventing him from renegotiating the delinquent tax contract. Other Tax Department officials negotiated the revised contract with CGI that significantly favored CGI, Pham said.
"All CGI obligations regarding their work in the original contract were forgiven," said Pham. "The new re-scoping contract releases CGI from performing millions of dollars of services."
http://www.staradvertiser.com/business/20100615_CGI_facing_state_probe.html?id=96358064
There's more...lots more.
