WASHINGTON — DISH Wireless LLC has agreed to pay more than $17.2 million to resolve allegations that it fraudulently obtained federal payments meant to help low-income Americans afford internet access during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
The Englewood, Colorado-based company, a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation, submitted false claims to the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Broadband Benefits Program (EBBP) and its successor, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), according to settlement documents.
Between May 2021 and February 2022, DISH enrolled more than 130,000 subscribers into the programs based on their purported participation in free school meal programs at high-poverty schools. For each subscriber, the company received up to 50per month under the EBBP and 30 per month under the ACP. Federal prosecutors alleged that many of those subscribers were never eligible.
“DISH and its employees fraudulently signed up ineligible applicants to receive federal monies,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine F. Pirro for the District of Columbia. “By doing so, DISH received payments which they were not entitled. This is a shameful act on the part of a large corporation that is rightfully required to pay $17 million.”
The government’s investigation uncovered a range of problematic practices. DISH enrolled more than 16,000 households based on claimed attendance at a specific type of high-poverty school — known as Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) schools — located more than 25 miles from the household address, with no verified school attendance. In another 130 cases, DISH listed dependents over age 21 as attending CEP schools.
For some CEP schools, the company enrolled more households into the program than the school had actual students.
The allegations extend to DISH’s management of third-party sales agents. According to the Justice Department, DISH failed to ensure agents were properly registered in required databases, and internal sales employees in Texas, Florida, New York, and West Virginia trained agents to submit inaccurate customer applications with incorrect school information.
Perhaps most significantly, the government alleged that after DISH corporate executives learned of problems with the company’s CEP enrollments, they failed to take corrective action from September 2021 through April 2022 — even after the FCC’s Office of Inspector General issued an advisory warning.
“DISH continued seeking FCC program funds for months after its executives learned about its agents’ enrollment fraud and after an FCC OIG advisory warning,” said FCC Inspector General Fara Damelin.
The EBBP, created by Congress during the pandemic through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, provided 3.2 billion in 2021 to help low − income consumers afford broad band services and devices. The follow − on ACP added another 3.2 million in 2021 to help low−income consumers afford broad band services and devices. The follow− on ACP added another 14 billion for similar services between 2022 and 2024.
Consumers could qualify for discounted broadband if they met certain income thresholds or participated in federal assistance programs including Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), Supplemental Security Income, or the National School Lunch Program.
“The Justice Department will take action where companies and individuals knowingly violate the rules of federal programs and receive federal funds to which they are not entitled,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
The settlement also resolves an administrative order issued by the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau against DISH on Jan. 17, 2025.
The government emphasized that the claims resolved by the settlement remain allegations only, and there has been no determination of civil liability.
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