A Baltimore City roofing company defrauded Baltimore County and committed perjury by misrepresenting its relationship with a subcontractor after winning a roughly $1.8 million contract to re-roof the Baltimore County Public Safety Building , according to a report released Wednesday by the Baltimore office, District Inspector General Kelly Madigan.
The roofing company, which was not named in the 60-page report, inflated the amount of money it was willing to pay the subcontractor to meet a county requirement to give more work to minority- or women-owned businesses .
The contract was awarded to the company in November 2018 to replace the roof of a county building at 700 East Joppa Road in Towson, which houses the Baltimore County Police Department.
A spokesman for the Baltimore County Department of Public Works and Transportation did not immediately respond to a request from The Baltimore Sun to identify the contractor.
The deal was first referred to Madigan’s office for investigation by the Office of Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming.
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Under the terms of the Baltimore County contract, the company agreed to pay the subcontractor $449,500, or 25% of the contract, to perform “various demos.”[lition] According to Madigan’s report, they actually only paid them $40,900, or 2%, to remove a waiter from the 13th floor of the building.
According to the report, in May 2019, the company’s president signed a document “under penalty of perjury” and filed it with the county that it paid the subcontractor the agreed $449,500 and complied with all bid solicitation requirements.
According to the report, the subcontractor’s owner said he was unaware of the agreement until he collected documents for an interview with Madigan’s office in April. The prime contractor did not respond to messages or phone calls from Madigan’s office, which was relaying the findings to law enforcement agencies for possible prosecution.
The fraudulent agreement went undetected for months because the office responsible for enforcing compliance was understaffed, Madigan said, noting that the contract compliance officer was responsible for overseeing 80 contracts and did not have time to visit on site or similar Make sure that the contractor complies with the terms of his contract.
According to one county, penalties for non-utilization or under-utilization of minority- or women-owned businesses and failure to provide documentation can include a penalty of up to 10% of the contract value and/or a suspension of contract awarding in the Baltimore County for a five-year memorandum, which accompanies the report.
County Administrator Stacy Rodgers said in a letter responding to the report that the county agreed with Madigan’s findings and has since hired more compliance staff, updated its policies and operations, and increased public outreach and education efforts to include more members of minorities and minorities to attract women. own company.
“Additionally, the administration supports the OIG’s position in escalating the matter to the appropriate law enforcement agency for further investigation and necessary action,” she wrote. “Those of the district [Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise] The program, in consultation with the Legal Department, will review this contract to determine additional possible actions within the county policy provisions.”
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