New Indictment Unsealed in $100M Construction Bid-Rigging Scheme
A fifth company and two employees are charged in the ongoing investigation into price fixing on transportation construction contracts...
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Another company, along with two employees, has been indicted in an ongoing investigation into bid rigging in Oklahoma.
Sioux Erosion Control Inc. of Weatherford, Vice President BG Dale Biscoe and an estimator, Randall David Shelton, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Oklahoma City for allegedly conspiring to fix prices on publicly funded transportation construction contracts. The targeted contracts were worth over $100 million.
Court documents allege the company, two employees and their competitors raised prices for erosion control products and services, divided up contracts and rigged bids for particular projects by submitting intentionally high-priced bids or refusing to bid. This went on from September 2017 through April 2023, according to the indictment.
Biscoe, Shelton and Sioux are charged with a violation of the Sherman Act federal anti-trust law. The maximum penalty for individuals is 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine. The maximum penalty for corporations is a $100 million criminal fine.
“Protecting competition for taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects remains a priority for the Antitrust Division,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “This indictment shows the Justice Department and its Procurement Collusion Strike Force partners’ commitment to protecting taxpayer dollars throughout Oklahoma and across the country from brazen collusion.”
The DOT-OIG and FBI Oklahoma City Field Office investigated the case.
Earlier this year, four other erosion control company owners or managers pleaded guilty to bid rigging and price fixing on more than $100 million worth of publicly funded transportation construction projects in Oklahoma.
