Washington State's Office of Minority and Women's Business Enterprises (OMWBE) is under investigation for potential fraud in how it has certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE), which are required to be used on U.S. Department of Transportation funded projects.
Multiple investigations: Not only did KING 5 News run a 20 minute video expose on May 20, 2012 culminating their almost one year investigation, but Governor Christine Gregoire has asked the Washington State Patrol to conduct an investigation to determine whether OMWBE was involved in any criminal abuses of power. And because the DBE goals are used on federally funded transportation projects, the FBI is also investigating. In response to the mounting pressure, OMWBE's Director, Cathy V. Canorro submitted her resignation letter to the Governor on May 9, 2012, with her resignation effective on June 1, 2012.
Questionable DBE certification? KING 5 News tells the story of at least one certified DBE they claim should not have been
certified because they are not really owned and operated by a disadvantaged
person, and the owner apparently has no construction experience.
Front company? KING 5 News recounts the story of another DBE that didn't perform construction
work with their own forces, but subcontracted the work to non-DBE
firms, even though their participation on the project was what was used to meet the DBE requirements.
What are the facts? It's a complicated and important issue. If you're interested in finding out the details of the specific companies involved, what former OMWBE investigators had to say, the following are some links with additional information:
- KING 5 News Up Front, "Fraud in the DBE," May 20, 2012. This video recounts the results of KING 5 News' investigation
- "Wash. official resigns amid allegations of fraud," by Michael Bastasch, May 16, 2012, The Daily Caller News Foundation
- Resignation letter of OMWBE Director Cathy V. Canorro, May 9, 2012 to Governor Christine O. Gregoire
Mike Purdy's Public Contracting Blog© 2012 by Michael E. Purdy Associates, LLChttp://PublicContracting.blogspot.com
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1 comment:
This is really disturbing to me. The WMBE is suppose to be in place to help WMBE's but time and time again there is fraud. To many times we see white women becoming DBA's who aren't qualified to do the work or their not the one running the company.
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