Two former officials of a California firm that bills itself as the “world’s leading provider” of specialty service control valves in global energy and industrial facilities will be sentenced on July 20 after pleading guilty to federal corruption charges for bribery and conspiracy. Six other former executives of Rancho Santa Margarita-based Control Components Inc., including ex-CEO Stuart Carson, were indicted last month by the U.S. Dept. of Justice on similar charges. Neither the firm, a unit of U.K.-based IMI plc, nor current managers were indicted. DOJ charged Carson and the five other executives with multiple counts under the Foreign Corrupt
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, N.Y., announced two new arrests this month related to an ongoing probe of corruption on construction projects for New York City utility Consolidated Edison Corp. The investigation had led to charges filed in January against 10 current and former Con Ed construction officials who allegedly accepted $1 million in kickbacks from contractors, but the contractors were neither identified nor charged at the time. Now U.S. Attorney Benton J. Campbell has said the alleged corruption occurred in connection with work at Metropolitan Transit Authority and city Dept. of Environmental Protection jobsites where Con Ed was working. According
With one former governor in federal prison and another possibly on his way, prosecutors have argued that Illinois is perhaps the most corrupt state in the nation. Fed up with the scandals, lawmakers are promising changes in the way contractors do business with the Land of Lincoln. Photo: AP/Wideworld Ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) has pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges. In the wake of scandal and the economic stimulus act, proposals for reform measures are flowing through both chambers of the statehouse in Springfield, Ill. “We haven’t seen the final package yet, but indications are they are comprehensive
The U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y., announced two new arrests related to an ongoing probe of corruption on construction projects of giant New York utility Consolidated Edison. The sting had led to charges filed in January against 10 current and former Con Ed construction officials for receiving $1 million in kickbacks from contractors. Benton J. Campbell said Russell Ball, CEO of Roadway Construction Inc., Brooklyn, was charged on April 16 with paying “tens of thousands of dollars in bribes” to Con Ed officials on water-main and utility-line construction projects between 2002 and 2004. He made the payments in exchange for
Neither staff nor members of the American Society of Civil Engineers are guilty of ethics violations in the society’s assessment of New Orleans’ flood defense performance during Hurricane Katrina, nor in its peer review of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-funded task force that studied it, ASCE’s standing committee on Professional Conduct has concluded after a 13-month investigation. “No charges of ethical misconduct against any of the individuals named were filed by CPC as a result of the inquiry,” says CPC Chair Rich Hovey. A charge of lax ethics was leveled by Raymond Seed, a University of California-Berkeley civil engineering
An internal ASCE ethics probe absolved the organization and its members of charges of misconduct related to assessment of the New Orleans Hurricane Protection System following Hurricane Katrina. Photo: Michael Goodman/ENR Charges against ASCE involved flood protect and levees in New Orleans. The probe also found no misconduct in ASCE’s peer review of the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force, which was a broad look at the causes of the disaster. Carried out by the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Committee on Professional Conduct, the probe was a response to charges in a complaint by Raymond Seed, a civil engineering professor,
Four executives with one of the largest construction firms in South America, Camargo Correa, were arrested by Brazilian police on March 25 in connection with a yearlong corruption probe. In all, 10 employees of the firm were arrested as federal police carried out a series of raids on the company’s offices in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janiero. The operation was part of an investigation named Operation Sand Castle. Photo: Hermano Luders Itaipu dam contractor faces charges. Investigators with Brazil’s federal prosecutor’s office specializing in financial crimes say Camargo Correa was laundering money through fake companies and illegal currency traders.
The World Bank on Jan. 14 announced the debarment of seven contractors and one individual for engaging in bid rigging on a major bank-financed roads project in the Philippines. The World Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) found that local and international firms colluded on contracts under phase one of the Philippines National Roads Improvement and Management Program (NRIMP 1). The World Bank’s Sanctions Board agreed the firms engaged in a bid-rigging scheme. The contractors debarred include China Road and Bridge Corp. (eight years), China Geo-Engineering Corp. (five years), and China State Construction Engineering Corp. (six years), all based in Beijing;
The World Bank announced January 14 the debarment of seven firms and one individual for engaging in collusive practices on major Bank-financed roads projects in the Philippines. The World Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) uncovered evidence of a major cartel involving local and international firms bidding on contracts under phase one of the Philippines National Roads Improvement and Management Program, known as NRIMP 1. World Bank stopped an estimated $33 million in Bank funds from being awarded to the firms. The World Bank’s Sanctions Board concluded that the entities had participated in a collusive bid-rigging scheme. The contractors debarred include
Stone & Webster Construction Inc. will pay $6.2 million to the federal government to settle a multi-year investigation into alleged improper recordkeeping of injuries and site safety under a $10-billion long-term contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority for modifications and maintenance work at nuclear plant sites in Tennessee and Alabama. The U.S. Justice Dept. announced the settlement Jan. 22 with Stone & Webster, based in Stoughton, Mass. and a subsidiary of Baton Rouge, La.-based The Shaw Group since 2000. The settlement also requires Stone & Webster to enter into a first-of-its kind comprehensive two-year monitoring agreement with TVA's Office of
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