Dive Brief:
- A Pennsylvania contractor has pleaded guilty to fraud and to receiving kickbacks in connection with $1.4 million in losses at two New Jersey military facilities, according to the Times Leader.
- Prosecutors allege that while managing military construction work, James Conway awarded his own company subcontracts for services that were never performed or only partially completed and concealed the fact that he owned the company by using an alias to sign project paperwork.
- Authorities also maintain that Conway took more than $180,000 in kickbacks from other subcontractors in exchange for "favorable treatment." .
Dive Insight:
A U.S. District judge ordered Conway to make full restitution, but he still faces up to $500,000 in fines and a maximum prison sentence of 30 years.
Work at military bases can be lucrative, which means this segment draw its fair share of those looking to make a quick buck, even if by illegal means. In June, a San Diego contractor settled disadvantaged business enterprise fraud charges to the tune of $5.4 million in association with work it performed at two California military bases. Prosecutors alleged that Harper Construction Company used an associated business, Frazier Masonry Corp., to do work at the facilities while maintaining that it had subcontracted the work to qualified DBE companies.
In another case involving work at a military facility, a Navy contractor pleaded guilty to fraud earlier this year after he allegedly diverted $1.2 million intended for subcontractors into his own pocket. Prosecutors said that Anthony Persaud hired more than a dozen contractors to work on warehouse renovations at a Pennsylvania naval facility and falsely stated on his own invoices that he paid them in full for the work. In the end, Persaud's bonding company paid the companies for their work, and Persaud agreed to make full restitution as part of his plea deal.
