On June 21, 2016, ING Civil, Inc., and its owner, Corey Ingerson, were suspended from Federal contracting by FHWA, following the parties’ civil settlement with the United States related to Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) fraud allegations. 

 

In February 2016, ING Civil, Inc., and Ingerson, as well as James Beaudoin, former owner of Rexford Albany Municipal Supply Company, Inc. (RAMSCO) and former RAMSCO salesman John Leary, agreed to collectively pay $1,012,000 to resolve allegations that they collaborated with a DBE to submit false filings to the government in violation of the False Claims Act. Ingerson and ING agreed to pay $437,000; Beaudoin, $550,000; and Leary, $25,000. Beaudoin and Leary were also suspended by FHWA in May 2016.

 

In 2009, Ingerson and Leary agreed to an illegal pass-through scheme in connection with the Bridge Avenue Bridge Reconstruction Project (BABRP) in Cohoes, NY. This project is valued at over $6.3 million and funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The arrangement was that RAMSCO, a non-DBE, would provide the materials and bill prime contractor ING Civil, Inc., through now-defunct DBE American Indian Builders & Suppliers, Inc. (AIB). In furtherance of the scheme, Ingerson signed a DBE Utilization Worksheet representing that AIB would supply $306,285 worth of materials for the project, although he knew virtually nothing about AIB or had any substantive discussions with anyone from AIB about the materials required. Ingerson instead dealt directly with RAMSCO officials. 

 

In the settlement agreement, Ingerson admitted that he made a false filing indicating that materials for the BABRP were supplied by AIB when, at the time he made that filing, he knew the materials were provided by RAMSCO. RAMSCO officials Beaudoin and Leary admitted in their settlement agreements that they took steps to aid ING Civil, Inc., in making that false filing.

 

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.