Justice agrees to take another look at $1B asset forfeiture support contract

Gettyimages.com/mohd izzuan
A joint venture of Amentum and Science Applications International Corp. has two decades of incumbency, but a challenger is questioning the fairness of the Justice Department's evaluation of recompete bids.
The Justice Department is rethinking a $1 billion award for asset forfeiture support services following a protest that questioned several aspects of the evaluation.
Forfeiture Support Associates, a joint venture owned by Amentum and Science Applications International Corp., has held the contract since 2004 and won the recompete in late August. Amentum and SAIC have become the JV partners through a series of acquisition and spinoff transactions over several years.
After Justice awarded FSA the new contract, KACE Co. filed a protest to challenge the department's evaluation of proposals and award decision. KACE also took issue with the department's responsibility determination.
The Government Accountability Office dismissed the protest on Sept. 23, when Justice told GAO it would pull back the award to re-evaluate proposals and make a new award decision.
Justice uses the contract to provide administrative, clerical and profession service to support their asset forfeiture processes. About 1,400 contractors to provide support at 490 locations around the country.
The contract has a five-year term.