PBSJ Takes Steps To Leave Embezzlement Scandal Behind
Nearly two years after Tampa-based engineer The PBSJ Corp. uncovered a high-level internal embezzling ring that inflated overhead on public-sector projects, the firm is repaying clients, elevating fiscal and ethical controls and reappraising its numbers. Industry firms are taking note, particularly as the U.S. Transportation Dept. studies contractor billing methods.
The U.S. Justice Dept. announced a Jan. 24 settlement with PBSJ in which the firm pays $6.4 million to reimburse federal clients, including the transportation, defense and homeland security agencies. It resolves “false claims” allegations stemming from the 13-year embezzlement scheme the company itself only discovered in 2005. The $36.6-million scheme’s key perpetrators, PBSJ’s former chief financial officer W. Scott DeLoach and two subordinates, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and fraud charges and are to be sentenced Feb. 16 in Miami.