Investigations
President and Owner of New York-based DBE Contractor Sentenced For Role In Fraud Scheme
On November 14, 2013, Yona Jimenez, a/k/a "Yona J. Bocchino", the president and owner of Global Marine Construction Supply (GMCS), was sentenced in United States District Court, White Plains, New York, to three years supervised release and a forfeiture of $52,347. Jimenez was convicted for her role as a pass-through disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) purporting to provide structural steel on the FHWA-funded Cross Westchester Expressway Project.
Between June 2006 and October 2009, the general contractor claimed that GMCS was awarded a $6 million subcontract to supply structural steel to reconstruct bridges, although another company (a non-DBE) actually supplied the steel. The general contractor then claimed credit for the "services" provided by GMCS towards meeting its DBE goal. GMCS was paid approximately 1% of the subcontract value as a commission.
We are conducting this investigation jointly with the NYS-Metropolitan Transportation Authority OIG, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey OIG