The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that general contractor J.A. McDonald, Inc. (“JAM”), headquartered in Lyndon Center, Vermont, has agreed to pay $637,500.00 to the United States and the State of Vermont to resolve allegations that JAM violated the federal False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729, and the Vermont False Claims Act, 32 V.S.A. § 631, by knowingly causing the State of Vermont to present false claims for payment to the United States in connection with the federally-funded construction of several bridges on Route 279 in the Town of Bennington, Vermont, and on Interstate 91 in the Town of Guilford, Vermont.
This settlement resolves allegations that, between approximately 2008 and 2010, JAM employees materially altered certain components of the bridges at issue by cutting or burning multiple sections of reinforcing steel out of the reinforced-concrete substructures that support the bridges, and that JAM employees took affirmative steps to conceal such material alterations from the Vermont Agency of Transportation. The United States and the State of Vermont contend that, because of this misconduct, the Vermont Agency of Transportation unwittingly paid JAM for deficient bridgework and in turn, presented false claims to the Federal Highway Administration for the reimbursement of the federal share of the amounts that were paid to JAM.
In addition to agreeing to pay $637,500.00 to the United States and the State of Vermont as part of...
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