WASHINGTON — A Diamond Bar company headed by former Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi could get fees exceeding $1 billion from the VA, much of it on contracts approved and amended while he ran the agency, records show.
Principi was president of the medical services company QTC Management Inc. before he joined President Bush's Cabinet in 2001. He ran the VA for four years, then returned to the firm as chairman of the board.
While he was VA secretary, Principi's past and future corporate home collected about $246 million in fees, according to VA records. Congressional Budget Office projections show the contracts could be worth as much as $1.2 billion through 2008.
Principi said he had no role in awarding, amending or administering VA contracts with QTC.
"While at the VA, I had no contact with QTC on any business matter and recused myself entirely from any issues or business that QTC might have had with the VA," he said in e-mail responses to written questions. He said he complied with federal statutes barring contact with the VA after his departure.
Citing his two sons' recent combat service, Principi said: "Caring for these young men and women we send to war is the only thing that motivates me whether I'm in public service or in any aspect of business, where their interests are at stake."
Whether, or to what extent, Principi stands to benefit from QTC's success was not determined. He said he held nonvested stock options in QTC, but did not say how many shares.
Principi's firm administers medical exams to veterans seeking disability assistance. It also examines soldiers before they are discharged. The results of the exams play a substantial role in VA disability benefit decisions.
Though the VA is QTC's biggest customer, the company does similar exams for other agencies and private insurers.
According to its website, QTC owns and operates 31 medical evaluation facilities and has produced "more than 2.5 million" medical exams and reports.
Principi, deputy VA secretary and acting secretary under President George H.W. Bush, also served as Republican chief counsel and staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee a decade ago.
Principi graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and is a Vietnam veteran. He was a partner in the San Diego law firm Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps, according to his White House biography.
