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May 4, 2006

6 arrested in fraud tied to Boston's Big Dig

BOSTON -- Six men who worked for the Big Dig's largest concrete supplier were arrested today on federal charges alleging they falsified records to hide the poor quality of concrete delivered to the massive highway project.

The six, all current or former employees of Aggregate Industries, face a variety of charges including making false statements, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit highway fraud, said FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz.

"My understanding is what they did was mix, commingled leftover concrete with new concrete," she said. The actions allegedly took place from 1999 to 2003.

In an August 2005 raid of company offices, state police said they found evidence the company had falsified paperwork to make it appear that old or rejected concrete was freshly poured.

Authorities have said there's no reason to believe the substandard concrete has affected the project's structural integrity because it was delivered six years ago and problems would have surfaced by now.

Lawyers for Aggregate Industries have defended the quality of its concrete and said it never delivered any that did not meet strength specifications called for in its state contract.

-- The Associated Press

The Big Dig, formally called the Central Artery and Third Harbor Tunnel project, buried Interstate 93 in tunnels beneath downtown and connected the Massachusetts Turnpike to Logan Airport with a third tunnel beneath Boston Harbor.

The project was plagued by long delays and soaring costs that ballooned from $2.6 billion to $14.6 billion. Earlier this year, after more than a decade of traffic detours, the last major section of the project opened. The heavy construction had started in 1991.

The allegations about concrete strength stemmed from a whistleblower suit filed in May 2005 in Suffolk Superior Court. Aggregate provided 60 percent of the concrete used to build the Big Dig.

According to Marcinkiewicz, arrested were: Robert Propseri, 63, general manager; Mark Blaise, 36, a dispatch manager; John Fahar, 42, a dispatch manager; Jerard McNally, 53, quality control manager; Gregory Stevenson, 53, district operations manager; and Keith Thomas, 50, a dispatch manager.

Fahar was arrested early today in Connecticut and Stevenson was arrested in Pennsylvania, Marcinkiewicz said. She did not know which of the men were current employees, and did not give their hometowns.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Steve Peoples at 12:22 PM | Permalink

May 4, 2006

6 arrested in fraud tied to Boston's Big Dig

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