A Michigan construction company and a top executive at the firm will pay the federal government nearly $2.5 million to settle allegations of false claims for a federally funded overseas contract, the U.S. Dept. of Justice says.
DOJsaidon July 26 that Sorensen Gross Construction Co., Flint, Mich., and Khalil Saab, corporate vice president, reached an agreement with the government to pay $2.481 million in the case, which involves a contract in Jordan financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The department also noted that the government's claims are allegations and said that there has been no finding of liability for the company and Saab.
The company and Saab did not respond to ENR's July 26 request for comment.
Doj表示，指控涉及约旦的公共工程和住房和索兰队之间的合同，以在AQABA中建立或翻新16所学校。该项目由USAID提供资金。
该机构还批准了招标，资格资格征求竞标者并批准选择索伦森作为主要承包商以及合同的术语，以及合同的术语。
Under the contract, Sorensen Gross was prohibited from subcontracting more than 50% of the cost of the work, and subcontracts with Jordanian firms were limited to $5 million.
Moreover, USAID and the Jordanian ministry were required to approve any subcontract that exceeded $100,000.
DOJ alleged that Sorensen Gross subcontracted nearly all of the Aqaba project work to Concorde, a Jordanian firm.
The government also claimed that Sorensen Gross and Saab falsely certified that their company was carrying out work on the schools contract and that Sorensen Gross submitted invoices to USAID for work that Concorde did.
Sorensen Gross then transferred payments it received from USAID to Concorde for the work that the Jordanian firm performed, according to DOJ.
据Sorensen Gross的网页称，该公司提供了预设，施工管理和咨询，现场监督，质量控制等服务。
Its projects include hospitals; university buildings; office buildings; and mixed-use, airport and water-treatment facilities.
The company says it is best known in the Flint area and elsewhere in southeast Michigan but also notes that it has finished projects in Canada, Mexico and the Middle East.
The company says that John Sorensen and Robert Gross founded the company in 1925 in Grand Rapids and the firm moved to Flint two years later.
