Dive Brief:
- According to New Jersey state prosecutors, former Birdsall Services Group Executive Vice President Thomas Rospos has pleaded guilty to third-degree charges of tampering with public records as part of a larger $1 million, six-year, "pay-to-play" scheme by the company and some of its executives to secure government work, according to the Engineering News-Record. Prior to the plea, Rospos was facing charges of conspiracy, falsifying records and money laundering.
- Rospos is one of several other Birdsall executives charged for their roles in an intricate plan of funneling political contributions through employees, and then reimbursing those employees through bonuses, as a way of getting around corporate contribution limits.
- Howard Birdsall, former CEO, pleaded guilty earlier in February to a charge of second-degree misconduct by a corporate official.
Dive Insight:
As part of Rospos' plea, he must pay $150,000 as compensation for his reimbursed donations and cannot bid on New Jersey public contracts for 10 years or own 5% or more of a company that does so. Birdsall has to pay $49,808 for his reimbursed donations as well. In addition, both Rospos and Birdsall face potential prison sentences.
At one time, Birdsall had 325 employees and ranked 191st on ENR’s 2013 Top 500 Design Firms. After pleading guilty to money laundering, the company paid $3.6 million in penalties and other settlements before filing for bankruptcy and selling its assets to Partner Engineering and Science for $5.6 million, ENR reported.
In another recent high-profile construction scheme in New Jersey, this time involving a public agency, Donald Bernard Sr. — former project manager for the Newark Conservation and Watershed Development Corp. — and contractor Giacomo "Jack" DeRosa, pleaded guilty in January to their parts in a kickback scheme that paid NCWDC officials hundreds of thousands of dollars.