U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia
October 1, 2026
WASHINGTON – A civil settlement agreement with Enterprise Technology Solutions, Inc., Zahid (“Donny”) Sheikh, and Shamela (“Meena”) Sheikh (collectively “ETS”) whereby ETS will pay $2,250,000 to resolve allegations that ETS violated the False Claims Act by falsely claiming that the company qualified for two Small Business Administration (“SBA”) programs which allowed ETS to inappropriately obtain Government contracts set aside for certain small businesses was reached today, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
“By lying about who they were and where they operated, this company siphoned money from programs designed to help small businesses in disadvantaged American communities and to support women‑owned small businesses,” said United States Attorney Pirro. “They claimed benefits they were never entitled to, all while running their operations out of Pakistan. My Office will continue to expose schemes like this, protect taxpayer-funded programs, and hold accountable anyone who tries to defraud the government through deception.”
The United States alleges that ETS, an IT solutions provider, made false statements to participate in SBA’s Historically Underutilized Business Zone (or HUBZone), which provides federal contracting preferences for small businesses located in economically disadvantaged areas. The HUBZone program requires a company’s principal office and 35 percent of its employees reside in a HUBZone. Despite claiming its principal office was in College Park, Maryland, and half of its four employees lived locally in that HUBZone, the United States alleges ETS’s principal office and over 50 of its employees resided in Pakistan.
The United States also alleges that ETS made false statements to participate in SBA’s Women Owned Small Business (“WOSB”) program, which provides federal contracting preferences for businesses that are owned and, importantly, controlled by one or more women. Despite assertions that Meena Sheikh led ETS, the United States alleges that Donny Sheikh exercised both day-to-day and strategic control of ETS and effectively operated as its President and Chief Executive Officer.
The United States contends that, as a consequence of these false representations, ETS received over 150 contract awards to which it was not entitled under the small business programs. The Government also alleges that ETS violated the Trade Agreements Act by knowingly selling IT equipment to federal agencies that were not made in the United States or in designated trade-partner countries.
The resolution obtained by the U.S. Attorney’s Office was the result of a coordinated effort with multiple federal agencies, including the SBA, General Services Administration Office of Inspector General, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Inspector General.
“Companies that falsely claim small business status to secure government contracts steal opportunities directly from hardworking Americans," said Adelle Harris, Special Agent in Charge of the Eastern Field Office at the NASA Office of Inspector General. “We will not tolerate contractors who breach public trust by obscuring who they are, where they operate, or where their products come from. Today's settlement underscores the importance of interagency collaboration to preserve the integrity of the federal procurement process.”
“The GSA Office of Inspector General will aggressively pursue contractors that provide false information to win federal contracts,” said Special Agent in Charge Elisa Pellegrini of the GSA Office of Inspector General Mid-Atlantic Investigations Division. “We will continue to work with our federal partners to protect our supply chain and the integrity of the federal contracting process.”
“SBA is committed to rooting out fraud alongside the Department of Justice and our other law enforcement partners,” said Jennifer Prescott, SBA General Counsel. “We will continue to hold the perpetrators of fraud accountable and recover ill-gotten contract dollars meant for legitimate small businesses.”
The allegations resolved by this settlement arose from a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act under which private citizens can sue on behalf of the government and share in any recovery. The settlement provides for the whistleblower, Kyle Harris, to receive $337,500 as his share of the settlement.
The settlement was reached through the work of Assistant United States Attorney Sean M. Tepe and Auditor Timothy J. Hurley. This is the first recovery on behalf of the United States since U.S. Attorney Pirro announced the creation of the Fraud and Asset Recovery Division.
The lawsuit is captioned U.S. ex. rel. Harris v. Enterprise Technology Solutions, Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 21-3220 (D.D.C.)
The claims resolved by the civil settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Settlement Agreement: ets_settlement_-_fully_executed_9.28.26_w_exh_a.pdf
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office press release
