Georgia’s corrupt Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger made a deal with two firms reportedly avoiding any competing bids so he could hire these firms with very shady connections. Why would he do that?
TGP reported in late February that Georgia’s corrupt Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger unilaterally signed a contract for the state with two firms to run the state’s voter roll.
In a no-bid contract, Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced the outsourcing of Georgia’s Voter Registration System to Salesforce.com. The implementation is to be managed by the MTX Group. The new system is called the Georgia Registered Voter Information System (GRVIS).
TGP reported on Sunday night April 24th on Salesforce.com, the firm that Raffensperger is outsourcing Georgia’s voter registration system. This firm is run by a Board Trustee of the World Economic Forum, Marc Benioff who has a record of far-left actions.
However, despite all the concerns with Salesforce.com and Marc Benioff, MTX Group may be even more sketchy.
In June 2020, the New York Post reported on MTX Group:
The city has awarded an emergency no-bid contract to a controversial company for up to $46 million for new COVID-19 contact-tracing technology.
The Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications clinched the deal with the MTX Group, a growing start-up whose founder and CEO Dastigir “Das” Nobel boasts he wants to buy the Dallas Cowboys…
…MTX, which pays the well-connected law firm Greenberg Traurig for lobbying, has had some trouble in other states, including a cost overrun scandal in Kentucky. Nobel also faces allegations in federal court in New York that he failed to pay owed commissions.
Dallas recently awarded a 27-month, $295 million contract to MTX, which includes contract tracing personnel. That massive deal raised eyebrows because the firm beat out tech giants like IBM, AT&T and Accenture.
MTX Group claims to have employees but the numbers reported differ. Dun&Bradstreet shows the company has is 49 employees with $102 million in sales. On LinkedIn MTX Group claims to have 1,268 employees.
In 2021 the owners of MTX Group won recognition from Ernst&Young.
Ernst & Young LLP has unveiled the winners of its 2021 Entrepreneur of the Year National Award during a gala at the Strategic Growth Forum last weekend—and two locals made the cut.
Das Nobel and Nipa Nobel, co-founders of Frisco-based MTX Group Inc., were among the 12 “unstoppable entrepreneurs” to receive the honor. According to EY, the group of audacious leaders were chosen for their tenacity and ability to push the limits in a way that can “catapult us to what’s next and beyond.”
Somehow this company received $295 million from the state of Texas to work on contract tracing for the state. California Department of public health describes contact tracing as the following:
Contact tracing is a public health practice that health departments use to identify and notify people who have been exposed to someone with an infectious disease.Public health workers reach out to these exposed people to tell them that they’ve been in close contact with an infected person and to give them information and support to help them keep themselves and their loved ones safe. Public health departments have used contact tracing for decades to fight the spread of infectious diseases like measles, tuberculosis, syphilis, and HIV.
This innocent description of contact tracing discounts privacy rights and the potential for abuse which has been discussed at TGP since the advent of COVID.
Das claims his goal is to attend the World Economic Forum at Davos:
One of his early visions is to attend the World Economic Forum at Davos from 2020 to 2022 to continue his thought leadership as we push forward our Maverick AI platform towards technological singularity.
Once Texas lawmakers found out about the $295 million contact tracing contract with MTX Group they expressed privacy concerns and urged the governor to cancel the contract.
In a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott this week, State Rep. Steve Toth (R–The Woodlands) focused much of his concern on the company awarded the nearly $300 million contract.
“Since the contract was executed without time for careful review or the oversight of any legislative body, the media, private citizens, and members of the legislature have begun vetting MTX after the fact. As the ink on the contract was drying, we learned that MTX did not have experience in contact tracing or the handling of confidential medical information that is at the core of the project.”
Additionally, Toth says his “most damning” concerns surround potential Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) medical privacy violations, as he notes that the company does not have a call center that complies with HIPAA privacy guidelines.
“In addition, MTX is not providing secured computers or networks for its contact tracers. Emails with sensitive and personal information will be sent and received via unsecured personal email servers,” Toth added.
“For these reasons, I respectfully urge you to take charge of this contract and cancel it.”
Five Texas Congressmen then sued the Governor over the contract.
Five Republican lawmakers in Texas are taking Gov. Greg Abbott to court, suing the governor over his decision to ink a $295 million, 27-month agreement with tech company MTX Group to bring coronavirus contact tracing to Texas…
…The lawmakers argue the contract should be voided by the court “for lack of DSHS’ authority to expend essentially unlimited funds toward a goal unidentified by the Legislature.”
“[T]he Texas Constitution requires a separation of powers, and that separation leaves policy-making decisions with the Texas Legislature. These decisions are not changed by pandemics.”
The suit also takes aim at Abbott for failing to follow competitive bidding rules when awarding the contract.
As first reported by Courthouse News:
“The request for proposal was far less detailed than other specifications provided by other states during this time, with a very short span of time to respond,” the complaint states. “No substantive opportunity to ask questions or suggest alternatives that would have been vastly less expensive or more efficient was allowed.”
Ironically, like with Raffensperger in Georgia, MTX Group was given the contract by Abbott without seeking competitive bids.
A video taken a year ago of the MTX Group office location in Texas shows a small office with seats for about 20 people.
Finally, we wrote about this firm about a year ago and noted that the owner falsified his educational background.
So how does a firm like this get such large contracts in GOP-led states? What really went on in these non-competitive bids?