Fraud Inquiries Focus on Construction Hiring [View All]

[Joanne98]

Source: NYT

Two of the nation’s major construction companies are under federal investigation for defrauding government programs on some of the biggest public works projects in and around New York City, according to people briefed on the inquiries.

The projects under scrutiny include the city’s $2.4 billion water treatment plant in Croton, N.Y., and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $1.4 billion Fulton Street Transit Center in Lower Manhattan, the people briefed on the investigations said in recent days.

The two investigations both focus on accusations that the contractors used what were essentially front companies to evade requirements that they hire a certain percentage of subcontractors owned by minorities, women or businesses certified by government agencies as disadvantaged, the people said.

One of the investigations is expected to be resolved in the coming days with an agreement between the contractor under scrutiny, Schiavone Construction Company, and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn. The agreement will allow Schiavone, one of region’s biggest tunneling contractors, to avoid criminal charges, but will require that it pay more than $20 million and maintain certain internal reforms it has put in place, the people said.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/nyregion/24fraud.html?partner=rss&emc=rss