The US Justice Department announced that Adobe Inc. had agreed to pay $3 million to settle allegations of kickbacks involving federal software sales.
The settlement resolved allegations that Adobe made improper payments to companies under its Solution Partner program, which had a contractual or other relationship with the government, allowing them to influence federal purchases of Adobe software.
According to the Justice Department, between January 2011 and December 2020, Adobe allegedly paid the companies a percentage of the purchase price of the software, which resulted in prohibited kickbacks causing false claims for payment to be submitted to federal agencies.
Brian Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s civil division, stated, “Those who do business with the government are prohibited from paying kickbacks, which can result in unnecessary purchases and increase costs to taxpayers.
“We will continue to use all appropriate tools to safeguard the integrity of the federal procurement process.”
As of the time of the settlement announcement, Adobe had not responded to a request for comment.
