Palm Beach County overpaid an air-conditioning contractor by nearly $70,000 over nearly a six-year period, the Inspector General's Office has concluded.
An investigation by the watchdog agency found that from July 2013 through March 2019, Commercial Cooling Concepts overcharged the county $69,583.49 by inflating the cost of materials through the use of a "shell company," the agency's report said.
The OIG reviewed more than $1 million worth of invoices for possible fraud.
"It appears Commercial Cooling used a shell company solely as a conduit to overbill the County, " the watchdog agency said in a statement Sept. 6 on behalf of Inspector General John Carey.
It said it had previously referred the matter to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for additional review. The attorney representing the company wrote in a response to the OIG's report that the law enforcement reviews were completed without any charges being filed.
A sheriff's office spokesperson confirmed Thursday that the agency closed its investigation without filing charges. A spokesperson for the FBI said he could not confirm the existence of an investigation. Federal court records showed no charges filed against the company or its president, Joseph Butkiewicz.
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