All based on racial preferences, minority status, female ownership, etc, the Federal Government has been, for decades, showing favoritism to certain selected classes of people. We all knew this. There are many "female" and "minority" owned companies that have exploited this, and in many cases they are legitimate companies.
But the area is rife for DEI type scams and James O'Keefe, the notorious independent journalist, just blew up the system. Let's hope the Justice Department, or congress, or the FBI or someone takes notice and figures out how to end this garbage that costs taxpayers billions of dollars every year.
okeefemediagroup.com
STORY CONTINUES AT O'Keefe Media link above ^^^^
But the area is rife for DEI type scams and James O'Keefe, the notorious independent journalist, just blew up the system. Let's hope the Justice Department, or congress, or the FBI or someone takes notice and figures out how to end this garbage that costs taxpayers billions of dollars every year.
BREAKING: $100 Billion Federal Contracting Scam. 8(a) Firm Admits to Violating Federal Law, Using Minority-Owned Status as a Front to Obtain $100M+ No-Bid Government Contracts While Outsourcing 80% of the Work. - O'Keefe Media Group Federal Contract
Explosive investigation reveals a $100 billion federal contracting scam, exposing how ATI Government Solutions exploits the 8(a) SBA program, using minority-owned status to secure no-bid contracts while outsourcing 80% of work.
okeefemediagroup.com
ATI Government Solutions Contract Manager, Melayne Cromwell Admits to Exploiting 8(a) SBA Program Through Pass-Through Scheme & Breaking Federal Law.
An O’Keefe Media Group undercover investigation has exposed how federal contractor ATI Government Solutions exploits minority-preference programs to secure more than $100 million in no-bid government contracts while subcontracting out the vast majority of the work.
We went undercover and arranged meetings with multiple ATI employees, to dig deeper into the truth behind their native american ownership, their small business status, and their excessive use of subcontractors, and what we found was more damning than we were ever expecting.
We posed as representatives from a cybersecurity firm “Sev-Zero Solutions” seeking to navigate the world of minority-owned government contracting – just like ATI. But our approach wasn’t through the front door of a federal bid meeting. Instead, we went through the kitchen.
We reached out to Melayne Cromwell under the guise of hiring her side business – Ragin’ Cajun Catering – to provide food for a corporate event we weren’t actually planning. We found her catering hustle listed on her LinkedIn profile.
The idea was to start the meeting with a casual conversation about catering. Halfway through, we’d “accidentally” realize she was in the same contracting space as us. Cue the surprise: We’d offer to connect her with my fake HR rep from Sev Zero, our fabricated cybersecurity company with a polished fake website to match.
What we didn’t expect was how fast the mask would drop.
Within two minutes of sitting down with Melayne at a restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, she volunteered the entire scheme – no prompting, no hesitation. She told us she was the Director of Contracts for ATI Government Solutions. Then she dropped the real bombshell:
She explained how ATI uses its tribal status to lock down multi-million dollar no-bid contracts, then passes off the majority of the work to subcontractors-firms that would never qualify on their own. Meanwhile, ATI keeps the lion’s share of the cash. Cromwell revealed to our undercover journalist;
Under the 8(a) system, meant to empower disadvantaged businesses, “pass-through” contractors such as ATI serve as paper fronts, taking much of the money off the top while doing little or none of the work. Cromwell admitted the company performs only 20% of its multi-million-dollar no-bid federal contracts, subcontracting out the remaining 80% – a textbook case of a “pass-through” scheme.
In short, ATI secures the contracts, gets the money, acts as a passthrough and it’s the tax payer who gets screwed over.
On paper, ATI is owned by the Susanville Indian Rancheria, a federally recognized native American tribal entity, in northern california. We met with the tribal chairman of the Susanville Indian Rancheria, Arian Hart, to confirm that the tribe does indeed own 51% of the company, while doing little to non of the work themselves.
Arian confirmed to us that if they were to appear as the owners of our company it would make it easier to obtain government contracts, and goes on to claim that we may need to relinquish 51% of the ownership to them.
OMG Undercover Journalist: “So really, it’s really just coming up with a number that you would want in order to appear to be the owner of our company. So we’ll discuss what percentage you would get when we come to the signing of the contract.”
Melayne confirms that ATI is abiding by this 51% tribal ownership…on paper.
ATI may be 51% tribally owned by the Susanville Indian Rancheria ON PAPER, But Melayne revealed to us that ATI was founded in collaboration with the Rancheria by two caucasian DC executives; Firmadge Crutchfeld and Scott Deutschman. And that they manage all of ATI’s operations.
According to a 2024 article featured on Washington Technology, Firmadge openly states:
Later in our meeting with Arian, OMG undercover journalist then proposes that we would like to make a similar arrangement with the tribe, and Arian reaffirms that the tribe itself will not be doing any of the work, even as 51% owners. they would literally be taking 51% of the company, for the sole purpose of allowing us to pose as native american owned, because it puts you to the front of the line for acquiring government contracts.
On the surface, this sounds like a well-meaning endeavor by the federal government, to bolster minority involvement in profitable industries like construction and software development.
However as you can see here, it incentivizes a system in which companies have to seek out a native american tribe, to pose as 51% owners, in order to obtain government contracts and then surrendering 51% of the profits to a native american tribe that does little to none of the work.
This effectively doubles the cost of the contract for the American tax payer and having the financial compensation for the person doing the actual labor.
The scheme appears to violate federal rules. According to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.219-14, prime contractors must perform at least 50% of the work. These provisions were designed to prevent small businesses from becoming fronts for large firms.
A $100 Billion Fraud Annually
This case represents a microcosm of one of the largest scams in American history – a sprawling scheme that may be draining taxpayers of billions each year through a web of racial-preference loopholes and government contracting corruption. The 8(a) Business Development Program, administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA), was originally designed to uplift disadvantaged businesses. Instead, it has become a system ripe for abuse, where companies like ATI Government Solutions exploit the rules for profit. And ATI is just one of many.
Our investigation comes just months after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Kousisis v. United States (May 2025) that false representations of minority status to gain federal contracts constitute wire fraud – even if the work is performed. This case involving ATI Government Solutions represents the most high-profile test of that precedent.
Big Picture
In 2025, the Biden-Harris Administration awarded a record-breaking $183 billion in federal contracts to small businesses in 2024 alone, part of over $630 billion distributed under “socially disadvantaged” aligned initiatives. But as affirmative action rulings continue to reshape race-based programs, the legality of such contracting preferences faces mounting scrutiny. ATI is just one of thousands of companies taking advantage of these SBA contracts. The real question is, how many are using the same scheme as ATI, and how much money has the American taxpayer spent on it as a result?
STORY CONTINUES AT O'Keefe Media link above ^^^^