Oregon adds another bridge to racketeering lawsuit
Sunday, May 11, 2008 2:26 AM PDT
ROGUE RIVER (AP) — Another bridge has been added to the racketeering lawsuit the state attorney general’s office filed against Ross Bros. & Co.
Three months ago, the state charged Ross Bros. with trying to defraud the Oregon Department of Transportation of more than $1 million on a project in Ontario.
The lawsuit filed in Malheur County Circuit Court now includes $381,000 or more in alleged overcharges on the Depot Street Bridge in Rogue River.
Attorneys for the construction company, based in Brooks near Salem, denied all the allegations and are seeking dismissal, claiming the lawsuit is without merit.
Among other things, the Depot Bridge portion of the lawsuit alleges that Ross and others:
— Inflated costs to keep equipment on standby during a construction delay.
— Tacked on extra costs for trucking.
— Overbilled for a job superintendent’s time.
— Pumped up costs for concrete forms and other materials.
— Submitted volumes of false documents, knowing it would take a lot of effort to ferret them out.
The biggest alleged overcharge was for $110,000 for equipment that stood idle for 20 days while bridge cable assemblies were being reworked.
Most of the funding for the bridge project came from the federal government but the Ross contract is with the state.
The lawsuit cites a ‘‘pattern of racketeering’’ and accuses company President Steven Ross of swearing to false claims, and obstructing and intimidating ODOT staff.
The Ontario part of the suit makes similar accusations that Ross and others made phony claims for extra money.
The lawsuit demands triple the amount of actual damages, and punitive damages. It also asks the court to bar Ross from bidding on public projects — the company also has contracts in Central Point and Roseburg — and ultimately to close down the operation.
The state seeks at least $800,000 from Ross in fines for completing the $14.5 million project two years behind schedule.
Ross, however, contends it is owed $3.9 million for overruns caused by problems with the design of the Depot Bridge, and with the manufacture of equipment for it.
