Related Links: World Bank list of ineligible firms and individuals The World Bank has taken a step toward greater transparency in its anticorruption activities, publishing the full text of decisions issued by its Sanctions Board to debar companies that allegedly engaged in fraud or other illegal practices on projects the bank finances.The number of firms or individuals debarred from bank-funded projects also has risen compared with the numbers several years ago.The initial group of published rulings, announced on May 30, includes debarments of eight companies in a range of industries. No U.S.-based construction firms are among the eight firms cited.One
Related Links: Press release from U.S. Attorney for District of Columbia ENR 10/6/11: Two Corps Officials, Two Others Charged With Contracting Fraud In the latest development in a federal probe of alleged contracting fraud, a former Army Corps of Engineers manager and his son have pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy charges connected to Corps contracts.Kerry F. Khan, 54, a former program manager in the Corps Directorate of Contingency Operations, entered a guilty plea on May 17 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to charges of bribery and conspiracy to commit money laundering.Ronald C. Machen, Jr., U.S.
Richard Korman for ENR Styles says that Congress has been pressing for rules that would trigger automatic debarment of contractors under suspicion of fraud. Related Links: U.S. Air Force's Steve Shaw on Ethics Is it possible for a federal agency to debar or suspend a contractor that has defaulted on one contract or been terminated for convenience? That was one of the questions put to Angela B. Styles, head of the government contracts group at the legal practice of Crowell & Moring, at a meeting May 2 of the Construction Industry Ethics and Compliance Initiative in Washington, D.C. The answer was provocative,
Related Links: Engineering News Record Architectural Record Builder Lend Lease (U.S.) Construction LMB Inc., formerly Bovis Lend Lease, and its onetime top New York City executive on April 24 settled charges of decade-long overbilling, worker time-sheet padding and other fraud charges on public and private projects there.The pact with the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn defers prosecution of the firm. Lend Lease agreed to pay $56 million in penalties and compensation and implement "far-reaching corporate reforms."James Abadie, 55, who had been executive vice president of Bovis and principal-in-charge of its New York City operations, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail
There’s no such thing any more as just grabbing a sandwich, sipping some wine or smacking some golf balls—at least not with a state official or employee.Even if you split the check, dining with a government client or potential client runs the risk of falling within prohibited forms of procurement or goodwill lobbying—comparatively new terms in the regulatory language. Anything that could be construed as influencing content in a request for proposals (RFP), the contract selection process or even a future legislative appropriations vote.These were among the cautions outlined by James A. Kahl, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who specializes in
Lend Lease (U.S.) Construction LMB Inc., formerly Bovis Lend Lease, and its former top New York City executive on April 24 settled charges of decade-long overbilling on some of the city's biggest public and private projects.
AP Commission convened by Quebec Premier Jean Charest will hold hearings in June, with power to subpoena witnesses, to further probe ethics violations in provincial construction contracting. Fifteen individuals, including officials and industry managers, were arrested in a related sting in April. An independent commission created last year by Quebec Premier Jean Charest to probe construction industry corruption in the province will begin calling witnesses to testify in June, using new subpoena powers. Further, on April 27, the body won a court ruling that orders Canada’s national police force to release documents from a related probe of organized crime. The
Canada's national police force raided the Montreal offices of engineer SNC-Lavalin on April 13, seeking information about missing funds allegedly used by former executives to procure work in Libya.The raid underscores troubles in the firm's overseas projects. The chief executive resigned following the departure of two other senior executives earlier. The firm also said on April 2 that the World Bank had temporarily suspended its unit in Bangladesh from bidding on a $2-billion bridge project there while a bank probe of corruption allegations continues. The allegations are noted in a "confidential" bank report, but the firm said the lender's action
Schooldesign.com Building that had been planned for lot at community college in Chula Vista, Calif. A community college in southern California hired an at-risk construction manager in 2010 to build a new multiuse building but that company based its proposed fee on a higher construction cost than its top competitor, and no one is sure exactly why.The contract was awarded to the construction manager whose price proposal was based on the higher amount, $59 million, according to a review report released last month. The runner-up based its fee proposal on an estimated construction cost of $55 million.Sometimes proposals where price
Two final court dates have been set for mid-April in the negligent homicide trial of James F. Lomma, the owner of the Kodiak tower crane whose fatal collapse killed two workers in Manhattan nearly four years ago. For more than a month, the owner of the equipment rental firm has been the focus of charges that say he was responsible for the 2008 deaths of union crane operator Donald Leo and sewer worker Ramadan Kurtaj.With the prosecution resting its case, Lomma's attorneys began calling as witnesses in late March two crane forensic engineering experts employed by Haag Engineering. The defense