Related Links: AIA Contract Documents References to 'Cost of Work' Robert E. Crawford, owner of a Springdale, Pa., construction company, is set to be sentenced on Dec. 13 in federal district court in Pittsburgh, after pleading guilty last summer to mail fraud in a kickback scheme with a developer financed though overbilling so-called "cost of work" charges on two building projects worth $15 million.U.S. District Court Judge David Cercone has also set for next March 3 the sentencing for the developer, Mark M. Palombaro, former vice president of development for Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group.Palombaro pleaded guilty on Nov. 3 to
In a coast-to-coast internet-and-telephone crime spree, alleged forgers who had websites that made them appear to be individual sureties have spread fake Chubb completion bonds across the U.S.
The Ohio Ethics Commission recently reprimanded the former Trumbull County Engineer for violations related to his tenure as engineer.David DeChristofaro, who left office nearly two years ago and is self-employed as a civil engineer, approved a settlement agreement in which he is reprimanded for being involved as county engineer with matters related to a lawsuit between the county and BECDIR, a firm owned by a business partner with whom he shares joint ventures in oil and gas wells in West Virginia.DeChristofaro, who in addition to being an engineer has a PhD in public administration, won election to the job of
Photo by Jeffrey Cox/ENR Diamond Indemnity provided a surety bond to a subcontractor on a renovation and expansion project in 2012 at the New-York Historical Society. Former business partners of Melde Rutledge, the elusive source of surety bonds linked with his partners to controversial practices, claim that their association with him ended in the summer of 2012. At that time, they claim, Rutledge allegedly engaged in fraudulent bonding activity and forged the signature on bond documents of Diamond Indemnity Trust principal Darius X. Johnson.Rutledge, believed to be a resident of West Palm Peach, Fla., and his attorney could not be
Without a detailed procedure for existing buildings, engineers inspecting damage from leaks over the years on the Elliot Lake mall in Ontario, whose roof section collapse killed two employees last year, were limited to following the owner’s dictates instead of a prescribed professional standard. And as the years wore on, the instructions from Robert Nazarian, owner of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, northwest of Toronto, depended on one consideration: his bottom line.That was a rough consensus that emerged from engineers and witnesses called to the long weeks of testimony before a commission of inquiry convened to investigate the
An informal, multi-state network of companies and brokers appears to be involved in fraudulently produced Chubb surety bonds discovered earlier this year and other controversial surety practices, according to interviews with small contractors that have lost premiums paid for the bonds.
Related Links: SKM July 25 World Bank Settlement Announcement SKM Global Code of Conduct UK's BS 10500 Anti-Bribery Management System Link to World Bank Sanctions Board decisions The World Bank has agreed to allow Australia-based engineer Sinclair Knight Merz to continue bidding on bank-financed global work under a July 24 pact that settles "improper payment" issues on past projects that the firm itself discovered and reported.SKM, which found the problems on unidentified projects in Southeast Asia and pointed them out last year, has terminated persons believed to be responsible for the ethical breaches and expanded anti-corruption programs throughout the company.Neither
The owner of a South Carolina paving contractor recently pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit money laundering through a scheme to hide assets from surety after he couldn’t finish work on a road project for the South Carolina Department of Transportation.Marlon Weaver, owner of Conway, S.C.-based Weaver Co. Inc., was awarded a contract in September 2008 for paving and asphalt on SCDOT Project I-95 Rehabilitation Dillon-Florence Counties. Safeco Insurance Co. of America provided performance and payment bonds and a general indemnity agreement for the job.Weaver’s company was hired to do concrete patching, asphalt work and bridge approach
Image courtesy South African Government Services The investigation revealed more than 300 incidents of collusion, including on World Cup soccer-stadium projects, such as the $460-million Green Point venue in Cape Town. Related Links: South Africa Toasts Itself With 2010 World Cup South Africa will fine 15 construction firms a total of more than $151 million as part of agreements reached last month that settle bid-rigging claims related to at least $4.8 billion worth of projects.The Competition Commission of South Africa said the companies "colluded to create the illusion of competition by submitting sham tenders ('cover pricing') to enable a fellow