A settlement has been reached in Whistleblower case against Mountain States Contractors LLC.
The allegations arose by a lawsuit claiming Mountain States Contractors LLC, an affiliated company of Jones Brothers, submitted false claims for payment to the United States in connection with the United States Department of Transportation’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (“DBE”) Program.
The Department's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program's primary goal is to level the playing field by providing small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals a fair opportunity to compete for federally funded transportation contracts.
According to the United States Department of Justice, Mountain States and its affiliated company, HMA, as the prime contractors on a federally-funded construction projects, agreed that they would use DBEs to perform subcontracted work on the projects. On several of these projects, Mountain States and HMA subcontracted with G&M Associates. Even though G&M Associates is a certified DBE, evidence obtained during the investigation reveal that Mountain States had improperly “loaned” its employees to G&M to perform the DBE work on the projects. The entities claimed these employees as DBE employees for purposes of obtaining payment for their work despite the fact that the prime contractors continued to provide their health insurance. The prime contractors also improperly leased equipment to G&M, which the entities then counted against the projects’ DBE goals. A company executive alleges he was told to falsify documents to make it seem as if a minority contractor was doing the work.
The whistleblower will receive $500,000 as his share of the settlement.
