Hold the phone — snooping shouldn’t cost that much!
The federal government is suing Sprint for allegedly charging the feds too much to eavesdrop on suspects.
The telecommunications company was forced to help several federal agencies, including the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, perform courtordered wiretaps between 2007 and 2010, the lawsuit notes.
The feds are required to pay the company for the wire-tapping service — but Sprint overbilled them by $21 million, the government claims.
“Sprint inflated its charges by approximately 58 percent,” the court papers state.
The federal government is now demanding triple the damages — a total of $63 million — and “unspecified civil fines,” according to the suit, which was filed in federal court in San Francisco on Monday.
A Sprint spokesman insists the firm has done nothing wrong
“The invoices Sprint has submitted to the government fully comply with the law. We have fully cooperated with this investigation and intend to defend this matter vigorously,” said Sprint spokesman John Taylor.
Sprint also overcharged the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other government agencies, the court papers say.