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Investigations

Date

Two Massachusetts Company Officials Sentenced to Fraud for Their Roles in Falsifying Change Orders on Central Artery/Tunnel (CA/T) Project

On October 17, 2008, Kenneth Hartley and Ryan McCourt of McCourt Construction (MC) were sentenced in U.S District Court, Boston, Massachusetts for their roles in a conspiracy to commit highway project fraud. Kenneth Hartley and Ryan McCourt misclassified apprentice–level trades as journeymen trades with higher hourly pay rates, on daily reports used to compile costs for time and materials (T&M) change orders. Mr. Hartley, a former manager of MC, was sentenced to six months incarceration and three years supervised release. Mr. McCourt, who succeeded Mr. Hartley, was sentenced to two years supervised probation and $1,000.00 fine. MC formed a joint venture with a third contractor named Obayashi (OBAY) in 1998 and was awarded the $163 million CA/T Project’s tunnel finishes contract. As a result of change orders, the contract value grew to over $230 million. The DOT/OIG case was worked jointly with the Department of Labor/OIG and the FBI.