The U.S. Supreme Court’s May 11 ruling that overturned former New York contractor Louis Ciminelli's conviction for allegedly helping to structure project requests for proposals to favor his firn as likely winner of contracts in the state’s one-time “Buffalo Billions” economic development program may cost prosecutors a tool against illegal bid manipulation.
Justices ruled against use by the U.S. Attorney in New York City of the “right-to-control” theory to indict and later convict the former CEO of LP Ciminelli and other defendants for wire fraud for depriving the bid selection committee for the state-funded projects of potentially valuable economic information that would have resulted from a truly fair and competitive RFP process.