A/E/C Industry Investigations & Enforcement

U.S. and international regulators have accelerated their false claims and anticorruption enforcement activities surrounding the procurement and performance of architecture, engineering, and construction (A/E/C) industry government contracts. Alston & Bird has the critical industry experience with public investigative and enforcement processes you need in this environment.

Architects, engineers, and construction contractors that work on domestic and international government projects are subject to investigation and prosecution by a myriad of state, federal, and international agencies. The claims range from corrupt procurement and fraudulent billing to alleged regulatory and compliance breaches. And the draconian tools at government—and putative whistleblower—disposal can turn simple contractual disagreements or oversights into millions of dollars in fines and penalties, along with potential debarment. At Alston & Bird, we have a team of experienced professionals at your disposal.

Experience in the A/E/C Industry and A/E/C Investigations and Enforcement Actions

We offer a single source for legal services for the defense of domestic and international false claims and anticorruption investigations involving A/E/C participants. We field an integrated team of former Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys and highly experienced civil litigators who routinely defend companies and individuals in A/E/C industry investigations, administrative enforcement actions, and criminal prosecutions. Our market-leading A/E/C industry practitioners have decades of experience in all manner of complex domestic and international projects.

Our team combines industry and subject-matter experience that is key to defending investigations into alleged corruption and fraudulent performance of public projects with intimate knowledge of how these investigations are conducted and how to avoid civil and criminal sanctions. As a result, our clients avoid the additional costs associated with the retention of third-party consultants to assess the development, design, and implementation of projects. Based on our wealth of civil, criminal, and administrative defense experience, we are well equipped to defend claims of mismanagement and fraudulent billing brought by public agencies.

Services for A/E/C Industry Participants

Whether your company engages in public projects or international construction, we have the experience needed to advise not only on the entire construction process but also on any government litigation, investigations, or enforcement actions that may arise. We frequently represent A/E/C clients in connection with public projects throughout the country, procurement protests at all levels of government, compliance issues, claims litigation in specialized courts for government contract disputes, and civil enforcement actions involving False Claims Act (FCA) and Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigations, among others.

We also handle a wide range of anticorruption issues pertaining to international construction such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), UK Bribery Act, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Anti-Bribery Convention, and other international agreements and local laws from countries like the People’s Republic of China, Brazil, Mexico, and many others. In these matters we defend against government investigations and enforcement actions; negotiate major criminal and civil cases before regulatory agencies; assist in all aspects of voluntary disclosures, including working with government-assigned monitors; design and implement anticorruption compliance programs, policies, and procedures; train employees on anticorruption compliance; conduct due diligence reviews for anticorruption compliance on potential target companies during acquisitions; review applications of agents and intermediaries to determine whether they are appropriate business partners; and conduct global internal investigations.

Our combination of industry experience and regulatory defense capabilities has resulted in many key victories and the avoidance of many civil and criminal penalties for our clients. Those results are best reflected by our consistent rankings in leading client- and peer-review-focused publications, such as Chambers USA, Who’s Who Legal, and Best Lawyers in the categories of government contracts, white collar crime, government investigations, and construction.

False Claims Act

Defended a large construction and management engineering firm in a case involving alleged violations of the FCA in connection with a $600+ million construction program at Mission College. An audit concluded that the firm had approved knowingly falsified payment applications submitted by a contractor. That audit resulted in the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) issuing a Notice of Termination to the firm based on allegations that it had violated the FCA. The matter was ultimately resolved with LACCD withdrawing its allegations and rescinding the termination letter.
Audited an international design and engineering firm’s compliance and ethics undertakings following its entry of deferred prosecution agreements with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office that resolved civil and criminal false claims associated with the Central Artery/Tunnel (“Big Dig”) Program in Boston.
Defended an international design and engineering firm in response to a qui tam relator’s allegations of construction mismanagement and fraudulent billing associated with the defendant’s performance of approximately $150 million of U.S. Agency for International Development contracts in Pakistan.
Defended a national design and engineering firm in connection with civil racketeering, false statements, fraud, and breach of contract claims by a public school district associated with the client’s management of an approximately $750 million, taxpayer-funded K-12 schools construction program. More than $150 million of adverse civil claims were resolved for a $7.5 million foundation donation and no admission of liability.
Responded to the visit by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) inspectors to our client’s construction project, and addressed the E-Verify compliance issues arising from that inspection both with ICE and with the government customer agency.
Convinced the DOJ not to intervene in an FCA investigation claiming Davis–Bacon prevailing wage fraud, and had a qui tam relator case dismissed by a federal court.
Engaged by the audit committee of a publicly traded government contractor in response to a DOJ public corruption investigation involving the award of municipal contracts. The government declined prosecution.
Defended an international government contractor in response to a U.S. Attorney’s Office grand jury investigation into alleged procurement fraud.
Engaged by a Dutch wastewater treatment contractor to conduct an internal investigation of its Buy American Act and Anti-Boycott Act compliance.
Defended a major valve manufacturer in a qui tam action brought under the California False Claims Act on behalf of 160 cities and water districts alleging that our client was responsible for selling the cities waterworks parts containing excess lead over a 10-year period and that the lead leached into the municipal water supplies.

Represented a client in a Fifth Circuit appeal that concluded that the FCA does not apply to E-Rate funded installation work because the E-Rate program does not involve federal funds and because the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), the entity that administers E-Rate, is not the government or an agent of the government.
Defended a Fortune 50 company in response to an FCA investigation by the DOJ involving antidumping duty and customs compliance issues; although the government claimed $18 million in FCA damages, the investigation was resolved administratively for a nominal, non-FCA payment.
Obtained acquittal for an owner of a construction company facing federal public corruption charges arising from sewer construction contracts.
Represented a contractor in the investigation and presentation of a multimillion-dollar claim arising out of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers construction contract.
Counseled a publicly traded company in a federal investigation of alleged fraudulent billings in connection with federal highway projects.

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, UK Bribery Act, and Other Local Anticorruption Laws and International Agreements

Counseled a U.S. defense contractor in the structuring of its payments to a European agent to comply with applicable anticorruption laws.
Counseled a U.S. subsidiary of a large European defense contractor on anticorruption issues in connection with the payment of agents’ fees under a contract to supply defense products to a Latin American government.
Defended a U.S. medical technology and medical products manufacturer in response to a DOJ FCPA Unit criminal investigation involving direct and distribution channel sales to government entities in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and the People’s Republic of China.
Defended a municipal corporation in a series of U.S. Attorney’s Office bribery and public corruption investigations.
Conducted confidential, overseas FCPA internal investigations:
- In Russia and other CIS states for one of the largest alcoholic beverage producers in the world.
- In the Middle East for a global tool manufacturer.
- In Italy, Malaysia, and India for a Fortune 100 technology company.
- For several worldwide financial services firms relating to dealing with foreign government entities and officials.
Developed and revised internal anticorruption compliance programs and provided FCPA training to:
- Major medical products company with operations in more than 100 countries.
- Multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical company with extensive international operations.
- U.S. logistics company operating in Iraq.
- Multinational banks headquartered in Europe and Japan.
- Multinational technology company.
- U.S. subsidiary of a large European defense contractor.
- U.S.-based agricultural company.

Contacts

Jeffrey A. Belkin

Senior Counsel

Atlanta, Washington, D.C.

Phone: +1 404 881 7388

Other Phone: +1 202 756 3065

Email: jeff.belkin@alston.com