Summary

On October 1, 2015, JVC Contracting Inc. (JVC) and John V. Colona, JVC's president and owner, were debarred for 3 years by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Previously in November 2014, Colona was sentenced, in U.S. District Court, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to one year probation and was ordered to pay $67,919 in restitution to the FHWA. In November 2012, Colona pleaded guilty to false statement charges in connection with a payroll and benefits fraud scheme on a $5.2 million FHWA funded road construction project. His company, JVC, a highway construction company located in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, resurfaced and repaired highways, roads, and bridges for Federal, state, and local authorities.

In March 2003, JVC served as the prime contractor on the FHWA funded Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PENNDOT) project to widen, resurface, and reconstruct approximately 1.6 miles of road in Horsham Township, Pennsylvania. Colona admitted that between April 2005 and December 2006, he submitted approximately 40 false certified payroll reports to PENNDOT and FHWA. In part, the reports represented that JVC paid the union employee fringe benefits. Based on these fraudulent submissions PENNDOT and FHWA continued to authorize payments to JVC. However, the investigation disclosed that in reality, JVC failed to remit nearly $70,000 in fringe benefits to 33 workers protected by DOT contract requirements.

We conducted this investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Labor (U.S. DOL) - Office of Inspector General (OIG), U.S. DOL - Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. DOL - Wage and Hour Division, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - OIG.

Note:  Exclusion actions (suspensions and debarments) are frequently for a specific period of time and the System for Award Management "Sam.gov" should be consulted to find whether a company is currently excluded.