Miami International Airport Contractor Convicted of Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Fraud

Office of Inspector General

Title:	Miami International Airport Contractor Convicted of Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Fraud
Date:	November 17, 2006
Type:	Investigation
Summary:	On November 17, a federal jury in Miami, FL convicted Dewitt Jackson "Jack" Maxwell of DBE fraud at Miami International Airport. Maxwell, vice president of Fisk Electric, devised a scheme to enable awards to be made to FLP Enterprises, Inc. for more than $20 million (including $5.8 million in federal funds) in electrical construction work at Miami International Airport between December 2001 and October 2004. The Miami-Dade County Aviation Department was told that FLP, a certified DBE, was to perform the work. The electrical work was actually performed by Fisk Electric, which was not a DBE. For the use of its name, FLP received a fee of between 3% and 5% of the value of the work assigned to it on paper. Maxwell was the last of four people to face charges in this case. Former Fisk executive Pat Clyne and FLP vice president Hector Paultre pleaded guilty and were each sentenced earlier this year to five years in prison. Also indicted in July 2005 was Arthur Teele, a Fisk consultant and a former Administrator of the federal Urban Mass Transportation Administration (the predecessor to the Federal Transit Administration). Teele committed suicide shortly after the indictments. Sentencing for Maxwell is set for February 22, 2007. This investigation was conducted by a joint task force which included OIG, Miami-Dade County Police Department's Public Corruption Unit, IRS/CID and the FBI.