Originally Syndicated on March 17, 2023 @ 6:01 am
Who is Jacob Korenblum?
Jacob Korenblum, a University of Toronto international relations graduate, went on to Harvard University for his master’s degree in international education policy. He finished a Reynolds Foundation Fellowship in social entrepreneurship while attending Harvard.
At the Arabic Language Institute of Fes, Morocco, where he studied contemporary standard Arabic, Jacob Korenblum continued his education. He is also a certified Lean Six Sigma White Belt.
Jacob Korenblum began his career as the director of monitoring, evaluating, and communications for Education Development Center, Inc. He then spent a number of years leading the evaluation team for Oxfam International. In order to adopt digital services, goods, and marketing strategies across new territories, he counseled Pearson Education and UNESCO from 2017 to 2018.
As a strategic advisor, Korenblum joined the GSMA, in 2018, the organization for the international mobile telecom sector. He offers guidance to international mobile network operators in this capacity about the formation of multinational strategic and marketing alliances.
Former Souktel, Inc. CEO Agrees to Pay $100,000 to Resolve False Claims Act Charges
Jacob Korenblum, the former CEO of Souktel, Inc., has consented to pay the United States $100,000 to settle claims that he knowingly directed company workers to submit false claims to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the course of fulfilling grants and contracts for the provision of customized technology platforms for aid projects in developing nations.
U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Special Agent in Charge Vanessa Freeman of the USAID Office of Inspector General made the news on Thursday, September 1, 2022.
According to U.S. Attorney Graves, businesses and people who conduct business with the federal government are required to put procedures in place to prevent overbilling and only bill for work that is actually performed. This case demonstrates how determined we are to collaborate with USAID and other partners to foster accountability and safeguard public funds. It also emphasizes that businesses will be in a much better position than those who fail to reveal their wrongdoing if they find their wrongdoing, declare it, and assist the government in its investigation.
According to USAID OIG Special Agent in Charge Freeman, USAID-funded organizations should make sure that invoices sent to the government for payment accurately reflect the labor actually done on a project. USAID OIG will continue to collaborate with the Department of Justice and use its extensive investigative capabilities to punish individuals responsible who threaten the integrity of significant U.S. aid initiatives.
A Delaware-based digital consultancy company called Souktel also has offices in Toronto, Canada, Washington, D.C., and Ramallah, the West Bank. Beginning in 2013, the company received sub-grants and sub-contracts supported by USAID for the design and development of mobile phone software used to connect relief workers and recipients in developing nations. Souktel admitted to the USAID OIG in 2019 that it had overbilled USAID prime implementers significantly for a number of its projects. The business was shut down in 2021.
Between February 2014 and January 2017, Souktel submitted at least 55 billing that comprised fictitious or speculative labor hours for its employees, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and USAID OIG. In particular, Souktel, under the direction of its CEO, Jacob Korenblum, submitted fabricated timesheets to five prime awardees to support false or speculative labor hours of its staff while working on USAID-funded projects, despite being under cost-reimbursement awards and required to bill USAID only for labor hours incurred.
Before responsibility in a civil case could be established, Korenblum decided to settle the complaint and cooperated with the inquiry. He agreed to pay an additional $100,000 as part of the settlement deal, on top of the slightly more than $90,000 that Souktel had already reimbursed USAID for following its self-disclosure.
USAID OIG and Assistant U.S. Attorney John C. Truong of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia investigated this incident.
