Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, TOP STORY: Construction company pleads guilty to role in government contracting conspiracy, (Feb 2, 2016)

By Jeffrey May, J.D.

MCC Construction Corporation (MCC), a construction management company/general contractor, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit fraud on the United States by illegally obtaining government contracts that were intended for small, disadvantaged businesses. MCC has agreed to pay a $500,000 fine and to forfeit $1,269,294 under a plea agreement that requires approval of the federal district court in Washington, D.C. (U.S. v. MCC Construction Corp., Case 1:16-cr-00004-KBJ).

MCC was charged in January with engaging in a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration (SBA). MCC has admitted to securing government contracts by conspiring with two companies that were certified to participate in the SBA Section 8a program that is designed to award contracts to small businesses that are owned by “one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.” The two companies, which were not named in the information, did not perform work on the projects; however, they retained a guaranteed percentage of each contract for simply obtaining the contracts for MCC. SBA 8(a)-certified companies are required to perform 15 percent or more of the work with their own employees.

For the contracts obtained through this scheme on which MCC made a profit, MCC’s profit was at least $1,269,294, according to the government. MCC has agreed to forfeit this profit.

“This conspiracy defrauded the government and denied small, disadvantaged businesses the opportunity to compete to do business with the United States,” said William J. Baer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, in announcing the plea. “We will continue to work with U.S. Attorney Phillips and his talented colleagues to protect the integrity of the government contracting process.”

Attorneys: Matt Graves for Department of Justice. Adam P. Feinberg (Miller & Chevalier, Chartered) for MCC Construction Corp.

Companies: MCC Construction Corp.

MainStory: TopStory Antitrust AntitrustDivisionNews