Following are the “red flags” of bribes and kickbacks
- Failure to adequately advertise the request for bids or proposals
- Unreasonable prequalification procedures
- Unreasonably narrow contract specifications that favor the winning bidder and exclude others
- Leaking of bid information to favor a certain bidder, and withholding critical information from others
- Discarding or changing bids after receipt, or improperly manipulating the scoring of bids
- Disqualification of other bidders for arbitrary or trivial reasons during bid evaluation
- Approval of unnecessary change orders to increase contract values after award (to allow the low bidder to cover the cost of the bribe)
- Splitting purchases to avoid procurement thresholds
- Approval of unjustified sole source awards
- Pressure by project officials on contractors to select a particular subcontractor or agent
- Contractor engages a questionable subcontractor or local agent (to handle bribe payments)
- Long delays in contract negotiations or award (as bribe demands are negotiated)