Missouri Attorney General Launches State-Wide Office Depot Investigation

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Attorney General’s Office for the State of Missouri has announced it has opened a state-wide investigation of Office Depot regarding allegations of fraudulent pricing and overcharging on government contracts.

The National Office Products Alliance (NOPA) observed that these announcements follow the opening of two other state investigations of similar allegations within the past year. In Florida, the Attorney General’s Office announced its ongoing investigation in May 2008 and North Carolina opened an investigative audit on October 28. All three investigations are based on the testimony of David Sherwin, a whistleblower in Florida, where Office Depot is headquartered.

These investigations concern allegations associated with Office Depot’s participation as the sole vendor on the “U.S. Communities” national contract for office and classroom supplies. The annual value of that contract is estimated at $600-700 million. State, county and municipal government agencies and school districts in all 50 U.S. states participate in that contract.

In recent years, this contract has supplanted long-term business relationships that small independent office product dealers enjoyed with local governments and school districts. More recently, several state governments also have made use of the U.S. Communities contract as a new purchasing option for state agency employees.