Arizona
Arizona business and owner convicted in Utah of lying to get government contracts worth millions
A Utah jury discovered an Arizona enterprise and its proprietor responsible of fraud and mendacity in functions so as to acquire hundreds of thousands of {dollars} price of contracts from the federal authorities. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret Information)
Estimated learn time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — A federal jury in Utah discovered the proprietor of an Arizona enterprise and the enterprise itself responsible of constructing false claims to the federal government so as to acquire a $99 million contract.
Whitney McBride, 41, of Queen Creek, Arizona, was discovered responsible Wednesday of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, main fraud in opposition to the US, and making false statements to federal legislation enforcement and to the court docket.
McBride and the corporate, Odyssey Worldwide Inc., have been initially accused of fraudulently claiming a particular standing underneath the Small Enterprise Administration so as to bid on a contract to work on the Fort Drum army base in New York, in line with a Thursday information launch from the Utah U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace. Prosecutors described McBride as Odyssey’s founder and proprietor.
A superseding indictment from October accused McBride and the corporate of finishing up a scheme to acquire contracts via the SBA put aside for companies in “traditionally underutilized enterprise zones,” or HUB zones. Typically the areas that qualify as HUB zones embrace Native American reservations and areas with a closed army base, the information launch says.
To be able to qualify for HUB zone contracts, companies will need to have at the very least 35% of staff residing within the zones and the contracts should be awarded to small companies. The HUB zone program is supposed to award authorities protection contracts within the hopes of economically stimulating the underutilized areas, in line with the indictment. This system can be meant to “present contract alternatives to companies owned by people who’ve personally skilled discrimination,” the information launch says.
Odyssey and McBride have been accused of falsifying info so as to declare the corporate certified for presidency contracts. A lot of the legal conduct happened in Utah, prosecutors say, although Utah enterprise information listing the corporate as being based mostly in Arizona.
Prosecutors say that in 2011, Odyssey positioned the bid to work on the New York army base understanding it didn’t meet the HUB zone requirements. The corporate didn’t have 35% of staff residing within the zone and Odyssey was not a small enterprise, the information launch says.
Odyssey had staff falsify addresses on their driver’s licenses and voter registrations to point out they lived within the designated HUB zone, charging paperwork say. The corporate additionally positioned HUB zone residents who didn’t work for the corporate on the payroll so as to declare them as staff. Odyssey additionally used a shell firm to pay staff exterior of the HUB zone away from the corporate’s information to cover them from the SBA, the information launch says.
Charging paperwork level out particular person situations that allowed Odyssey to misrepresent itself, together with an occasion the place an worker’s paycheck was cut up between him and his spouse so as to additionally listing her as one other HUB zone resident. The corporate additionally requested that an worker change their voter registration to a relative’s deal with to offer the looks they lived on the deal with, the indictment says.
The corporate was later admitted to the federal government program and obtained over $200 million in contracts over 9 years.
Through the trial, the corporate admitted that its software was fraudulent however positioned the blame on the corporate’s former chief monetary officer Paul Lee, who had already pleaded responsible to wire fraud. The corporate’s former chief working officer, Michael Tingey, additionally pleaded responsible to wire fraud, in line with the information launch.
The jury finally determined to convict McBride and the corporate on all counts, as the decision was learn simply earlier than 6 p.m. Wednesday, court docket information say. The sentencing listening to within the case is scheduled to happen on Sept. 1 in Salt Lake Metropolis’s federal courthouse.