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Office of Inspector General |
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| Title: | Two Ohio Construction Companies Agree to Pay Over $933,000 in Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Fraud Case |
| Date: | May 20, 2005 |
| Type: | Investigation |
| Summary: | On May 20, a civil settlement was filed in the U.S. District Court in Cleveland involving Kenmore Construction Company (Kenmore), Akron, OH and Choice Construction (Choice), Solon, OH based on a lawsuit alleging that the two construction companies conspired to submit false claims for payment to the United States. Under the settlement, Kenmore agreed to pay $622,418 and Choice signed a Consent Judgment for $311,209. Kenmore had been awarded various federally-funded road construction contracts based on representations that it was subcontracting with Choice as a legitimate woman-owned DBE. Our investigation found that Kenmore employees and equipment (rather than those of Choice) were used to perform the work, which undermines the purpose of the DBE program. Choice is now out of business and Kenmore will be debarred if it fails to conform to a corporate compliance program monitored by the Ohio Department of Transportation. |