- New York AG Letitia James, Massachusetts AG Maura Healey, and New Jersey AG Gurbir Grewal reached a settlement with public works contractor V.J. Associates Inc. and its affiliates (collectively “VJA”) to resolve allegations that it submitted inflated time-and-expense reports on state projects.
- According to the settlement agreement, a whistleblower complaint alleged that VJA submitted bills to prime contractors on certain time-and-expense public works projects where VJA was a subcontractor in which it billed for more hours on projects than its employees actually worked, including billing for unrelated administrative tasks.
- Under the terms of the settlement agreement, VJA will pay $1.875 million, of which approximately $1.3 million will be paid to New York, $151,800 to Massachusetts, $16,400 to New Jersey, and $422,000 to the whistleblower. VJA also voluntarily agreed to be debarred from bidding on contracts with the three settling states for a period of five years.