Brooklyn Bridge Fraud Suit to Continue Against Tower, Spectrum

Two New York-area companies will continue to face claims they fraudulently obtained payments under federally funded steel painting projects to renovate the Brooklyn Bridge and Queens Plaza by violating Disadvantaged Business Enterprise rules, a New York federal court said.

This program is designed to increase participation in federal contracting by businesses owned by women and minorities.

The government adequately alleged that Tower Maintenance Corp. and Spectrum Painting Corp. violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims for payment despite knowing they weren’t satisfying the rules, Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ...