Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Hewlett-Packard Co. agreed today to pay $55 million to settle claims that it paid kickbacks to companies so they would recommend its products to federal agencies, the U.S. Justice Department said.

The allegations that Hewlett-Packard improperly paid the kickbacks were originally made in a lawsuit that whistleblowers Norman Rille and Neal Roberts filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas in 2004.

“In this district, we are committed to aggressively pursuing any actions in which the government has been defrauded,” U.S. Attorney Jane Duke said. “Ultimately, it is the taxpayers’ money at issue and our office works to protect the citizens of the United States.”

Today’s settlement agreement also resolves claims that Hewlett-Packard’s 2002 contract with the General Services Administration was defectively priced because the company provided incomplete information to GSA contracting officers during contract negotiations.

In March, state leaders and Hewlett-Packard officials dedicated the technology giant’s new $28 million customer service and technology center near Conway.