GTSI reacts to U.S. contract suspension

"We appreciate your support during this time … please be assured that we will fight to restore our good name," Friedlander said in letter addressed to employees and company stakeholders after the U.S. Small Business Administration took the rarely taken step of suspending the company, a top-50 contractor for the Pentagon, from being awarded new government contracts.

The SBA alleges that GTSI used small businesses as intermediaries to secure contracts intended for small companies, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

"There is evidence to suggest that GTSI's prime contractors had little to no involvement in the performance of contracts in direct contravention of all applicable laws and regulations," a letter from the SBA to the company says.

The newspaper said officials affirmed the suspension was in part the result of Washington Post reports that included an e-mail from a GTSI vice president that said a partner in one contract was "very open to the concept of GTSI doing ALL the work."

In a separate contract, in which GTSI was cited as receiving 99.5 percent of the revenue, although it was the subcontractor, not the primary contractor, the Post said.

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