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The Louis Berger Group’s president, Larry D. Walker, says his company will emerge better from changes made because of investigations that culminated in a $69-million settlement with the U.S. Dept. of Justice announced on Nov. 5. He maintains the company discovered the overbilling targeted by investigators before the company became aware of the federal investigation and that the company began refunding $4 million to federal agencies. New internal controls and compliance and ethics programs will prevent a recurrence, he says. The overcharging “goes back into the 1990s before the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts and was based on a methodology that
Louis Berger Group has agreed to pay $69 million to settle civil charges by the Dept. of Justice that the company systematically inflated its overhead charges in cost-plus work for the federal government from 1999 to 2007. Related Links: Dept. of Justice press conference Criminal complaint against Louis Berger Group Probe Leads to Wolff's Likely Exit from Berger The settlement was announced Nov. 5th in Newark, N.J., by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. “Money that could have been used for more good work instead went to LBG’s bottom line,” he said. “It allowed a corrupt few to send a message about
Three former New York City project officials indicted in connection with a fatal 2007 fire at a vacant Ground Zero high-rise being cleaned of asbestos and demolished will stand trial on manslaughter and other charges on Jan. 18. A New York state supreme court judge rejected on Oct. 22 motions to dismiss charges. The fire killed two firefighters. Click here to read ruling by Judge Rena K. Uviller. Photo: AP August 2007 fire at former World Trade Center site killed two firefighters. Related Links: Ground Zero Blaze Raises New Questions on Demolition Job Now facing trial related to the Deutsche
A former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project engineer allegedly accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks in connection with the award of millions of dollars of reconstruction contracts in Iraq, according to a U.S. Justice Dept. complaint. John Alfy Salama Markus of Nazareth, Pa., was charged on Oct. 13 for his alleged role in providing confidential bidding information to Iraqi Consultants & Construction Bureau. John Markus was the Corps contracting officer on seven contracts won by the firm.
Jennifer Smith’s sexual harassment and gender discrimination case against Eugene/Springfield Public Utility District Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee of Oregon is headed for a resolution. Following an investigation by the state’s Bureau of Labor and Industries, the apprentice linewoman’s case has been sent to the Oregon State Apprenticeship and Training Council for a final decision, expected sometime in October. Smith filed complaints in December 2009 with BOLI asking it to overturn a local JATC ruling that she was not ready to graduate as a journey-level linewoman. She claimed gender discrimination and sexual harassment during her apprenticeship resulted in her failure to
俄克拉荷马州塔尔萨市矩阵服务有限公司9月10日说it would delay release of its fourth-quarter earnings statement and annual report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at least until Sept. 28, pending an internal investigation of fraud allegations against current and former employees in one of its offices. The publicly held industrial engineer-constructor declines to identify the nature of the claims or the names of the employees allegedly involved. However, it did say the employees identified in the allegations have been suspended without pay until the internal probe is completed. Matrix says it believes the financial impact of
The three-year-long civil and criminal investigation of Louis Berger Group’s billings for federal aid and reconstruction projects came to light on Aug. 9 just as the federal government was ramping up audits and investigations of Afghanistan and Iraq reconstruction contracts looking for possible improprieties. Photo By Michael Goodman For ENR Neither Wolff nor Berger have been charged with any wrongdoing. Photo By Michael Goodman For ENR Fields says his office is conducting numerous criminal investigations and that his staff is working closely with the Dept. of Justice to root out cheating and lawbreaking. Related Links: Probe Leads To Wolff’s Likely
A three-year-long federal investigation of alleged overbilling on reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan by engineer Louis Berger Group appears likely to force Derish M. Wolff, chairman of the firm’s holding company, from his job, according to court documents filed last week. Photo: Michael Goodman For ENR Wolff’s terms of departure from the company are controversial. The company is trying to resolve Wolff’s status as chairman of Berger Group Holdings, it said a statement released on August 16. “We anticipate that the matter of his employment to be resolved by the end of next week,” the company said. Contacted at his New
Paris-based construction giant Technip S.A. has agreed to pay $338 million to avoid prosecution and settle civil suits alleging violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a 1990s and early 2000s bribery scheme to win $6 billion in contracts in Nigeria. Under the June 29 deal with the U.S. Justice Dept. and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Technip says it will pay the fines over a two-year period and “improve its compliance procedures,” including appointment of a monitor. The firm was part of the TSKJ engineering-procurement-construction consortium involved in building the Bonny Island liquified- natural-gas plant during that
A new bill proposed in the U.S. Congress would give the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration the power to request up to 20 years of prison time for construction company executives, project managers and safety directors for willful safety violations resulting in serious injury or death. The Protecting America’s Workers Act, which was introduced by U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), has raised objections from the Associated General Contractors of America, which says the legislation “creates financial and legal disincentives to find and fix” safety problems.