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The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Pentagon investigator admits to faking dozens of Top Secret security clearance background checks
A federal contractor tasked with performing background checks on Department of Defense employees seeking high-level security clearances copped to submitting reams of bogus reports when she claimed to have thoroughly vetted candidates who, in fact, had not been properly checked out. Of 39 allegedly fraudulent investigations Nousheen Qureshi carried out over the course of more than a year for the Defense Counterintelligence Security Agency, at least a half-dozen included fabricated 'interviews' with people who later said they had never even heard from her at all, according to a plea agreement obtained first by The Independent. 'The results of the background investigations conducted by [Qureshi] were used to determine whether to grant security clearances to individuals at various levels, including and up to Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information ('TS/SCI') access,' states the plea agreement, which was unsealed Tuesday in Santa Ana, California federal court. 'To conduct the investigations, [Qureshi] herself had TS/SCI clearance.' Qureshi, a Mission Viejo, California, resident, worked at the time for CACI International, a $7.7 billion Virginia-based conglomerate that bills itself as being 'ever vigilant in helping our customers meet their greatest challenges in national security.' Each of the 299 background investigations she turned in between July 2020 and August 2021 had to be re-worked by the agency, costing taxpayers nearly $250,000 extra, according to the plea agreement. Qureshi was subsequently hired by two other companies to run background checks for the Department of Homeland Security, doing more than 600 of them until her past finally came to light and she was removed from all DHS projects, the plea agreement says. Tucker Atkins, Qureshi's court-appointed lawyer, did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Since the September 11 terrorist attacks there has been a tremendous increase in the number of security clearances issued by the federal government, according to attorney Dan Meyer, a former U.S. Navy officer who is now a national security partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Tully Rinckey, PLLC. As the system has become more and more overloaded, investigators have seen their workloads double, triple or even quadruple to as many as 40 cases a week, Meyer told The Independent. Along with this, the incentive to cut corners has also increased, said Meyer. 'And once they start falsifying documents, there's a greater incentive to falsify documents because you've got to hide it once you've done it,' he said. Further, Meyer pointed out, the Trump administration has publicly undercut the importance of rigorous security clearances, where he said sends a message out to the rank-and-file, 'who start to think, 'Hey, maybe this isn't so important.'' A sham background report such as those generated by Qureshi can lead to extremely serious counterintelligence issues, according to Seamus Hughes, a senior researcher at the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center, a partnership between the University of Nebraska at Omaha and DHS. 'Intelligence officials are trusted with some of the nation's most important secrets. Fabricating background interviews and gaming the process has the potential to put those secrets at serious risk,' Hughes told The Independent. 'There's been an increasing number of criminal cases recently against government employees with high-level security clearances leaking classified information. A thorough security clearance review is paramount to preventing such disclosures.' The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency is responsible for ensuring U.S. government job candidates, as well as those already on the payroll, can be trusted with, among other things, classified information. As 'America's gatekeeper,' the Defense Counterintelligence Security Agency conducts over two million background checks each year on people applying for both civilian and military roles, and reinvestigates current employees' security clearances at regular intervals. Qureshi began working at CACI in June 2018, and was assigned to the Defense Counterintelligence Security Agency security clearance investigations, according to her plea agreement. 'In that capacity, [Qureshi] conducted background investigations for the Department of Defense,' the plea agreement says. 'The investigations included applicants for DoD employment, DoD employee background reinvestigations, and investigations for security clearances of defense contractors' employees.' Qureshi was responsible for interviewing friends, acquaintances, and associates of those under investigation, and writing reports on her findings, according to the plea filing. It says the clearances in question went all the way up to the TS/SCI level, which allows individuals with a demonstrated 'need to know' to access highly classified materials. To ensure security clearance investigations are being done properly, the agency's Quality Management Oversight Group randomly selects reports to review and re-contacts the individuals interviewed with written questionnaires about the process, the plea explains. In June 2021, amid a routine probe into one of Qureshi's reports, the agency heard from 'J.F.,' a person she had spoken to as part of background investigation into a Top Secret security clearance candidate identified in the plea filing as 'M.C.' 'J.F.'s response to DCSA stated that he provided information to [Qureshi] about M.C.'s drug use,' the plea states. '[Qureshi's] report of J.F.'s interview did not contain this derogatory information.' It also says that Qureshi 'willfully falsely reported that she had interviewed M.C.'s landlord, S.R., and that S.R. stated that M.C. had lived at a Lancaster, California residence alone.' However, the plea filing goes on, Qureshi 'well knew' that she had not interviewed S.R., and S.R. 'had not stated M.C. lived alone.' 'In a subsequent interview with S.R., DCIS Special Agents learned that M.C. lived at the Lancaster residence with four roommates and that two rooms at the residence were used as vacation rentals,' the plea continues, adding that Qureshi's 'false statements were material to the decisions' that followed by DCSA as to granting M.C. a security clearance. The plea agreement, which does not specify if M.C.'s clearance was ultimately approved or not, says CACI then pulled a sample of Qureshi's other background investigations, to recheck her work. Of the cases CACI reviewed, it came to find out that 'six individuals claimed they had not been interviewed' at all by Qureshi, who, the plea maintains, 'submitted six separate reports stating that she had interviewed those individuals and provided factual narratives of their conversations.' As a result, the plea says CACI fired Qureshi in August 2021. Once she was gone, the Defense Counterintelligence Security Agency 'reworked the 299 background investigations' Qureshi had conducted over the prior year, for which she had spoken to 1,025 sources, according to the plea. In all, it says special agents discovered no fewer than 39 false reports, and pegs the cost of redoing them at $240,306.04. Two months later, Qureshi hired on as an investigator at a pair of other federal contractors, Omniplex World Services Corporation and ADC Ltd., the plea filing states. It says the two companies had contracts with DHS to perform background checks on prospective employees applying for jobs at the agency. Between late October 2021 and February 2024, when the DHS Office of Inspector General connected the dots and had Qureshi removed from all assignments connected to the agency, she conducted 608 background investigations on applicants to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, according to the plea. Messages seeking comment sent on Wednesday to CACI, Omniplex and ADC went unanswered. In 2020, another CACI employee conducting security clearance investigations for DCSA pleaded guilty to fabricating nearly 70 reports in 11 months. Two years later, a Defense Counterintelligence Security Agency staffer pleaded guilty to falsifying reports as part of security clearance investigations. In 2024, another agency investigator pleaded guilty to near-identical charges, admitting to having made up more than 40 security clearance interviews that never actually took place. Qureshi pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements, a charge that carries up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In Qureshi's case, however, prosecutors are recommending she be sentenced to probation and home detention. Qureshi is due to appear in court on June 16.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CACI awarded $147.51M Army contract
CACI (CACI) was awarded a $147.51M cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for intelligence, logistics and engineering services. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of May 23, 2030. Fiscal 2010 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $1.1M were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command is the contracting activity. Easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter Published first on TheFly – the ultimate source for real-time, market-moving breaking financial news. Try Now>> See the top stocks recommended by analysts >> Read More on CACI: Disclaimer & DisclosureReport an Issue CACI International Upsizes Senior Notes Offering CACI International Announces $750M Senior Notes Offering CACI price target raised to $510 from $450 at Barclays Jefferies aerospace & defense analysts hold analyst/industry conference call CACI price target raised to $520 from $480 at TD Cowen
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Here's Why CACI International (CACI) is a Strong Growth Stock
For new and old investors, taking full advantage of the stock market and investing with confidence are common goals. Achieving those goals is made easier with the Zacks Style Scores, a unique set of guidelines that rates stocks based on popular investing methodologies, namely value, growth, and momentum. The Style Scores can help you narrow down which stocks are better for your portfolio and which ones can beat the market over the long-term. Different than value or momentum investors, growth-oriented investors are concerned with a stock's future prospects, and the overall financial health and strength of a company. Thus, they'll want to focus on the Growth Style Score, which analyzes characteristics like projected and historical earnings, sales, and cash flow to find stocks that will see sustainable growth over time. Based in Reston, VA, CACI International delivers IT applications and infrastructure to improve communications and secure the integrity of information systems and networks, enhance data collection and analysis, and increase efficiency and mission effectiveness. The company's solutions enrich defense and intelligence capabilities, assure homeland security, improve decision-making, and help customers operate smartly and proficiently. CACI boasts a Growth Style Score of B and VGM Score of B, and holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) rating. Its bottom-line is projected to rise 14.6% year-over-year for 2025, while Wall Street anticipates its top line to improve by 12.6%. Six analysts revised their earnings estimate upwards in the last 60 days for fiscal 2025. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $0.19 to $24.13 per share. CACI boasts an average earnings surprise of 14.1%. Looking at cash flow, CACI International is expected to report cash flow growth of 5.9% this year; CACI has generated cash flow growth of 11.9% over the past three to five years. With solid fundamentals, a good Zacks Rank, and top-tier Growth and VGM Style Scores, CACI should be on investors' short lists. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CACI International, Inc. (CACI) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why CACI International (CACI) is a Top Stock for the Long-Term
Building an investment portfolio from scratch can be difficult, especially if you're new to investing. It's easy to feel overwhelmed with so many different investment options out there, but focusing on stocks that are set to outperform the market over the next 12 months is an excellent place to start. Now, let's take a deep dive into a great stock that could be just the right addition to your portfolio. Based in Reston, VA, CACI International delivers IT applications and infrastructure to improve communications and secure the integrity of information systems and networks, enhance data collection and analysis, and increase efficiency and mission effectiveness. The company's solutions enrich defense and intelligence capabilities, assure homeland security, improve decision-making, and help customers operate smartly and proficiently. CACI was added to the Zacks Focus List on December 2, 2015 at $103.31 per share. Since then, shares have increased 360.55% to $475.79. Six analysts revised their earnings estimate higher in the last 60 days for fiscal 2025, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $0.19 to $24.13. CACI also boasts an average earnings surprise of 14.1%. Earnings for CACI International are forecasted to see growth of 14.6% for the current fiscal year as well. Since stock prices respond to earnings estimate revisions, it can be very profitable to buy stocks with an increased earnings outlook. By buying a Focus List stock like CACI, then, you're likely getting into a company whose future earnings estimates will be raised, potentially leading to price momentum. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CACI International, Inc. (CACI) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Is CACI (CACI) Stock Soaring Today
Shares of defense, intelligence, and IT solutions provider CACI International (NYSE:CACI) jumped 9.8% in the afternoon session after the company reported a "beat and raise" first quarter 2025 results which beat analysts' expectations on revenue, backlog, EPS, and EBITDA. Backlog climbed nearly 10% to a record $31.4 billion, and the company reported a healthy 1.2x book-to-bill ratio, reflecting ongoing demand for its secure communications, intelligence, and electronic warfare solutions. It also raised its full-year revenue and EPS guidance. Zooming out, we think this was a good quarter with some key areas of upside. The shares closed the day at $457.36, up 7.9% from previous close. Is now the time to buy CACI? Access our full analysis report here, it's free. CACI's shares are not very volatile and have only had 8 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today's move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business. The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 3 months ago when the stock dropped 9.1% on the news that the company reported fourth-quarter earnings results, with markets increasingly worried that new cost-cutting initiatives by the US government would affect Defense contracts. Although CACI reported a strong quarter with revenue, EBITDA, EPS ahead of Wall Street's expectations as well as a statement that they're well on their way to meet the three-year financial targets unveiled during the November 2024 Investor Day, the market became fearful of the impact of DOGE during the earnings call Q&A session. DOGE or the Dept of Government Efficiency was recently established by President Donald Trump as a result of his frustration with government bloat and inefficiency. A primary objective is to streamline federal operations and significantly reduce government spending, with a target of cutting up to $2 trillion over the next decade. For example, DOGE plans to reassess and renegotiate existing Department of Defense contracts to achieve cost savings, and this could lead to reduced contract values or more stringent terms for defense contractors such as CACI and others. Additionally, there would likely be efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce, which might result in fewer government personnel overseeing and managing defense contracts. This could slow down procurement processes and delay project approvals, impacting contractors' operations. Defense contractor stocks have seen multiple compression since President Trump first introduced DOGE, and CACI earnings call had multiple questions related to the topic that seemed to make the market more fearful that DOGE will indeed be a headwind to CACI and peers. CACI is up 11.1% since the beginning of the year, but at $456.67 per share, it is still trading 20.2% below its 52-week high of $572.44 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of CACI's shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,876. Unless you've been living under a rock, it should be obvious by now that generative AI is going to have a huge impact on how large corporations do business. While Nvidia and AMD are trading close to all-time highs, we prefer a lesser-known (but still profitable) semiconductor stock benefiting from the rise of AI. Click here to access our free report on our favorite semiconductor growth story.
