Ex-Head of Pa. Concrete-Beam Firm Convicted in DBE Fraud Case

Justice said that Marikina received the DBE contracts “on paper,” but all of the contracted-for work was done by SPI and CDS personnel and SPI and CDS got all of the profits from those contracts. Marikina received “a small fixed–fee payment,” the government added.

In addition, Justice said, “SPI and CDS personnel routinely pretended to be Marikina employees by using Marikina business cards, email addresses, stationery and signature stamps, as well as using magnetic placards and decals bearing the Marikina logo to cover up SPI and CDS logos on SPI and CDS vehicles.”

Cruz pleaded guilty in 2008 and 2009 to conspiracy and tax fraud charges. Ernest G. Fink, former SPI vice president, chief operating officer and owner pleaded guilty in 2010 to conspiracy. Two other CDS or SPI vice presidents entered guilty pleas sin 2008.

Peter J. Smith, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, said that Nagle faces up to five years in prison on the conspiracy count; up to 20 years’ in prison on each of the wire- and mail-fraud counts; and as many as 10 years in prison on the money-laundering conspiracy and each of the money-laundering counts on which Nagle was convicted.

Doug Shoemaker, regional special agent in charge for U.S. DOT’s inspector general’s office, said, “This significant conviction…will serve as a clear signal that severe penalties await those who would attempt to subvert U.S. DOT’s laws and regulations.”

The U.S. Attorney’s office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. DOT IG’s office, and the Internal Revenue Service criminal investigation division took part in the investigation.

Tom Ichniowski has been writing about the federal government as ENR’s Washington Bureau Chief since the George H.W. Bush administration, and he has covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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