FCDL Comment:
DR1:Simon Goldbrener, owner of Gold Consulting and SGoldbrener LTD, plead guilty on February 12, 2020 to defrauding the E-rate program from 2010 to 2016. Specifically, Goldbrener plead guilty to holding himself out as a consultant who worked for educational institutions, supposedly helping schools to participate in the E-rate program by, among other things, holding a fair and open bidding process to select cost-effective vendors. Goldbrener admitted that he was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by vendors to complete and file false E-rate documents that circumvented the competitive bidding process from at least in or about 2010 up to and including in or about 2016. Due to this guilty plea and admission to violating E-rate’s competitive bidding rules (47 C.F.R. § 54.503) USAC is denying funding to 12031 in funding years where 12031 used Goldbrener, Gold Consulting, or SGoldbrener LTD as your E-rate consultant.