Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Canadian executive extradited to face Superfund Site fraud charges, (Nov 17, 2014)
Organizations Mentioned:Bennett Environmental Inc. | Bennett Environmental, Inc. | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
By Jeffrey May, J.D.
John Bennett, a Canadian national and a former chief executive officer of Bennett Environmental Inc., appeared in the federal district court in Newark, New Jersey, today after extradition from Canada on a charge of participating in a conspiracy to pay kickbacks and commit fraud at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-designated Superfund site. Bennett was indicted in 2009 along with two other individuals—Gordon D. McDonald and James E. Haas Jr.—for their roles in conspiracies related to contracts at the Federal Creosote site located in Manville, New Jersey (U.S. v. McDonald, Criminal No. 09-656 (JAE)).
According to the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Bennett carried out the conspiracy by providing kickbacks to McDonald, the project manager at the Federal Creosote site, in order to influence the award of sub-contracts at the site and inflate the prices charged to the EPA by the prime contractor. Last September, a New Jersey jury convicted McDonald on 10 counts of the 12-count indictment. McDonald has since been sentenced to serve 14 years in prison and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and make restitution totaling $4,304,491 to victims, including the EPA. McDonald also was charged with accepting kickbacks from co-defendant Haas. Haas, a former representative of a subcontractor that provides common backfill, a type of soil material used to refill an excavation, pleaded guilty in 2009.
Bennett was an executive at Bennett Environmental. The Canadian-based company, which treats and disposes of contaminated soil, pleaded guilty to its role in the conspiracy to defraud the EPA at the Federal Creosote site in 2008 and was fined $1 million. The company also has been ordered to pay $1.66 million in restitution.
“This extradition demonstrates our resolve to pursue those who undermine competition,” said William Baer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division in a statement, announcing the extradition. Baer noted that the extradition is an example of the longstanding cooperation with between the U.S. and Canadian Justice Departments.
Companies: Bennett Environmental Inc.
News: Antitrust AntitrustDivisionNews