Base Technologies, Inc., B-293061.2; B-293061.3, January 28, 2004

Base Technologies, Inc., B-293061.2; B-293061.3, January 28, 2004 TITLE: Base Technologies, Inc., B-293061.2; B-293061.3, January 28, 2004 BNUMBER: B-293061.2; B-293061.3 DATE: January 28, 2004 ********************************************************************** Base Technologies, Inc., B-293061.2; B-293061.3, January 28, 2004 DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: Base Technologies, Inc. File: B-293061.2; B-293061.3 Date: January 28, 2004 L. James D*Agostino, Esq., Richard L. Moorhouse, Esq., Leigh T. Hansson, Esq., and Natalia W. Geren, Esq., Reed Smith, for the protester. Michael D. Harbart, Esq., Department of Treasury, for the agency. Sharon L. Larkin, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Agency*s consideration of key personnel*s lack of law enforcement, and limited years of, experience was proper, where these matters were reasonably encompassed within the solicitation*s evaluation criteria and related to the solicitation*s requirements. 2. During discussions, an offeror need not be told of all weaknesses that would enable it to achieve maximum evaluation score. 3. Agency may consider the references of one joint venture partner in evaluating a joint venture offeror*s past performance where they are reasonably predictive of performance of the joint venture entity. 4. Agency*s scoring of past performance was reasonable and consistent with the solicitation*s evaluation criteria; protester*s argument that agency failed to follow scoring scheme set forth in agency*s internal evaluation plan does not provide a valid basis for protest. DECISION Base Technologies, Inc. (BTI) protests the award of a contract to Lifecare-Advanta Joint Venture (LAJV) under request for proposals (RFP) No. BPD-03-R-0010, issued by the Bureau of Public Debt, Department of Treasury, for financial crimes investigative services. BTI contends the agency conducted a flawed evaluation of both offerors* proposals, and held inadequate discussions with BTI. We deny the protests. The Financial Crimes Investigative Network (FinCEN) provides intelligence and analytical support to the international, federal, state, and local law enforcement and regulatory communities. It provides analytical case reports to investigators using state-of-the-art technology, in-house analysts, and various data sources to uncover potential criminal relationships. The FinCEN has a continuing requirement for on‑site support related to these investigative services, which BTI currently provides under a contract set to expire shortly. The RFP, issued as a small business set-aside, sought a contractor to provide on-site support for the FinCEN in five program areas: case management, the USA Patriot Act, the commercial database program, the gateway program, and the pro-active targeting program. As stated in the RFP, case management support involves researching three classes of information--commercially available data (e.g., ChoicePoint, Lexis-Nexis, and Dun & Bradstreet databases), financial information (e.g., Bank Secrecy Act reports and Department of Treasury databases), and law enforcement information (e.g., FinCEN past cases, and databases from the Departments of Treasury, Justice, and Defense)--and involves such tasks as mail processing and telephone coverage, management of case information, and target information processing. USA Patriot Act support requires services related to an information-sharing service between law enforcement and financial and regulatory communities with respect to the investigation of financial crimes, money laundering, and terrorist activities, and includes such tasks as research (which was noted in the RFP as the *highest priority* to the FinCEN and the agencies supported by the FinCEN), case opening and closing, maintenance of financial institutions* points of contact and e-mail address logs, returning results to the requestor, and archiving cases. Commercial database system and gateway system support requires answering requests for user identifications and passwords, maintaining logs and files of user access accounts, conducting database searches, and responding to requests concerning the gateway process. Pro-active targeting program support involves using artificial intelligence technology to locate unusual or questionable financial activity in various reports and financial records, and requires the contractor to conduct research, organize data, and process the results in the reports. RFP S: C.2.