Investigations

On September 23, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin convicted and sentenced James Hubbell to 36 months’ probation—with the condition that he serve 24 weekends of intermittent confinement and perform 200 hours of community service in the areas of disadvantaged minorities or veterans—and a $100 special assessment.

 

In April 2018, Hubbell entered into an agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. The investigation revealed that Hubbell and his co-conspirators operated construction companies with straw owners who qualified as disadvantaged individuals or service-disabled veterans but did not actually control the companies. The scheme enabled the co-conspirators to fraudulently obtain Disadvantaged Business Enterprise certifications and collect more than $200 million in Government-funded contracts to which they were not entitled.

 

DOT-OIG conducted this investigation with the FBI, Army Criminal Investigation Division, and the OIGs at the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense, Small Business Administration, and General Services Administration.