AntiPolygraph.org has received information that a whistleblower complaint has been filed with the General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) alleging bid rigging and pay-to-play activities in polygraph service contracts for the U.S. Secret Service.
Matthew C. Quinn
It is alleged that in response to pressure from Secret Service Deputy Director Mattew C. Quinn to hire more special agents and officers, the Secret Service has resorted to using private contractors to conduct polygraph screening examinations. Traditionally, such examinations have been conducted by the Secret Service’s in-house polygraphers, who are sworn special agents.
Through GSA, five-year contracts with a ceiling of $20 million for the provision of polygraph services to the Secret Service commencing in January 2026 were awarded to three private vendors: Capital Center for Credibility Assessment Corporation (47QSWA22D008A), Information Discovery Services (GS02F094BA), and Potomac Management Solutions (47QRAA25D000X).
Special Agent in Charge
Joan M. Hoback
(LinkedIn profile)
As described to AntiPolygraph.org (and lightly edited for clarity):
Despite not being fully funded, an Authorization to Proceed (ATP) was granted on a GSA-issued Blanket Purchase Award (BPA) – Multiple Award Schedule (MAS), dated 1/9/2026, with a ceiling of $20 million dollars to three vendors for polygraph services to the U.S. Secret Service (USSS):
Representatives from the Secret Service, at the direction of Deputy Director Matt Quinn, including Forensic Services Division (FSD) Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Joan Hoback, her Deputy SAC (DSAC) Ben Conley, and Procurement Division (PRO) Contract Officer Matt Sutton are abusing their positions of authority by engaging in a “pay to play” contract fraud scheme involving multiple polygraph vendors. This scheme entails procurement bid-rigging of call orders, kickbacks paid to Selection Officials from inflated invoices submitted for services, and bribes paid to Contract Representatives (COR) for contractor assignment during the picking of winners and losers regarding contract awards.
The estimated percent increase in cost for contracted polygraph services under this BPA is at least double, because this BPA uses outside third-party vendors in lieu of direct-hire contractors as done by many other state and federal agencies (e.g. CIA, FBI, State Department, etc). Over a five-year period, the estimated cost in wasted spending is projected to be over $10 million dollars.
It is further alleged that there were initially four vendors who responded to the GSA’s Request for Information for these contracts, but that the fourth vendor withdrew because it did not want to participate in the alleged scheme.
It is alleged that between March and June 2026, complaints were made to several DHS components but met with negative results, after which a whistleblower complaint was filed with the GSA OIG. That complaint remains pending.