Blake Percival was the Director of Fieldwork Services,

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the Unite ...

(WPA), for USIS. He became a

whistleblower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...

in July 2011, when he filed a ''

qui tam In common law, a writ of ''qui tam'' is a writ through which private citizen, private individuals who assist a prosecution can receive for themselves all or part of the damages or financial penalties recovered by the government as a result of the p ...

'' suit saying he was fired from USIS, for not ordering his subordinates to submit cases to the U.S. Government for payment, that had not been completed. He had worked for USIS from January 2001 to June 2011. In his suit he stated he had been fired after he refused to order his employees to continue an elaborate fraud known as dumping. The suit was filed under seal in U.S. District Court in Montgomery, Alabama. His allegations were investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and in October 2013 the DOJ joined Percival's suit and removed the seal. The case, ''United States of America ex rel. Blake Percival v. U.S. Investigations Services'', Civil Action No. 11-CV-527-WKW, was filed in U.S. District Court, Middle District of Alabama (Northern Division). On January 22, 2014, the DOJ filed their formal complaint against USIS. In their filing the DOJ stated that USIS committed fraud on at least 665,000 background investigations. This case was moved to Washington, D.C., on April 25, 2014. The case was settled on August 19. 2015, when USIS agreed to forgo claims to more than $30,000,000 it was owed by the U.S. Government. On December 18, 2015, the Department of Justice awarded Percival 20%, just over $6,000,000, of the money recovered from USIS.

Education

Percival graduated from

Bluefield State College Bluefield State University is a public historically black university (HBCU) in Bluefield, West Virginia. The university is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History The Bluefield Colored Institute was founded in 1895 as ...

in January 2000 with a Regeants Bachelor of Arts Degree. He graduated from the West Virginia State Police Academy in April 1994 as part of the 86th Basic Class, which certified him as a Police Officer in West Virginia. He graduated from the Montgomery Police Academy's lateral training class in 1998, which certified him as a Police Officer in Alabama. In 2008, he was licensed as a

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

by the State of Minnesota Board of Private Detective and Protective Agent Services. In April 2013, he was certified in Alabama as a

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

by the Alabama Judicial College.

Early career

From February 1986 to March 1992 Percival served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. While in the Army he worked as a Material Control Accounting Specialist for four years and as a Military Police Officer for two years. He was assigned at

Fort Ord Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay on the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of the fort's land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, ...

, California,

Fort Rucker Fort Rucker is a United States Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was formerly named in honor of Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Novosel, an Army aviator and Medal of Honor recipient. It was previously nam ...

, Alabama, and Fuerth, Germany. In March 1992 he was

honorably discharged A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...

at the rank of Sergeant. From 1994 to 2001, Percival worked as a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

. He held

Police Officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

positions in West Virginia and Alabama. In West Virginia he worked at Beckley Police Department, and in Alabama he worked at Baptist Health Police Department,

Auburn University at Montgomery Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM) is a public university in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. Governed by the Auburn University Board of Trustees as a member of the Auburn University system, it was established by an act of the Alabama Le ...

, (A.U.M.) Police Department, and Wetumpka Police Department. He also worked as a

Bailiff A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...

at the City of Montgomery Alabama

Municipal Court A city court or municipal court is a court of law with jurisdiction limited to a city or other municipality. It typically addresses "violations of city ordinances and may also have jurisdiction over minor criminal cases...and over certain civil cas ...

USIS

In 2001, Percival began working for

U.S. Investigations Services USIS (US Investigation Services) was a US corporation that provided security-based information and service solutions to both government and corporate customers, in the United States and abroad. Its corporate headquarters were in Falls Church, ...

which was later renamed USIS. From 2001 to 2003 he was an Investigator conducting background investigations for the

United States Office of Personnel Management The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is an independent agency of the United States government that manages the United States federal civil service. The agency provides federal human resources policy, oversight, and support, an ...

, (OPM). In 2003 he was promoted to District Manager and managed Investigators in the Fayetteville, North Carolina, area. In 2005 he was reassigned as a Team Leader for Investigators in the Montgomery, Alabama, area. In 2007 he was promoted to District Manager of the Minneapolis District. In January 2011 he was promoted to Director of Fieldwork Services, Western Pennsylvania. He was fired from USIS in June 2011.

After USIS

From September 2011 to October 2013 Percival worked for

CACI CACI International Inc. (originally California Analysis Center, Inc., then Consolidated Analysis Center, Inc.) is an American multinational corporation, multinational professional services and information technology company headquartered in Nor ...

as an Investigator conducting background investigations for the

, (OPM). From April 2012 to August 2015 he worked as a

at the City of Montgomery Alabama’s Municipal Court. After his whistleblower case settled, he became a public speaker on the topics of Morals, and Ethics. In April 2017 he became a member of the Washington, D.C.–based law firm ProtectUS Law, which is a law firm specializing in whistleblower cases. Percival's book ''Holding on to Integrity and Paying the Price: A Whistleblower's Story'' was published January 6, 2020.

References

External links

/ Press Release from the US Attorney's Office, Middle District of Alabama, October 31, 2013
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140407100107/https://www.idradar.com/news-stories/law-regulation/USIS-Reportedly-Flushed-Security-Checks-To-Boost-Profits / idRADAR, USIS Reportedly "Flushed" Background Checks To Boost Profits, Workflow]
/ U.S. House of Representatives, 113th Congress, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Democratic Staff report on, The Role of USIS and Allegations of Systematic Fraud/ Minnesota Association of Private Investigators listing for Blake Percival/ 2009 list of Minnesota Licensed Private Investigators on docstoc.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Percival, Blake Bluefield State College alumni Living people Place of birth missing (living people) People from Montgomery, Alabama People from Wetumpka, Alabama American whistleblowers People from Panama City, Florida Year of birth missing (living people)