VJ Associates, a Hicksville, N.Y., estimating consultant, has agreed to pay $3.13 million in civil and criminal penalties to settle charges that the firm overbilled and falsified hours on multiple federal and state government-funded transportation and other contracts in New York and Massachusetts, the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston announced on Oct. 29.
Between 2007 and 2018, the bill-padding scheme on projects funded by the U.S. Transportation Dept., New York and Massachusetts agencies, and the Port Authority of NY and NJ, generated about $1.2 million in over payments.