Kris sends a link to the story of Matthew Torgeson who set up some service-disabled veterans’ companies, even though he had never served in the military;
Matthew Torgeson, former president of Torgeson Electric Co., and Matthew McPherson, president of McPherson Construction Inc., were accused of fraudulently applying for and receiving construction contracts that were supposed to go to service-disabled veterans and other disadvantaged groups. Also cited in the in a U.S. District Court filing in the Western District of Missouri case was Kansas City-area businessman Patrick Michael Dingle.
The three are accused of setting up front companies to fraudulently get federal contracts meant to be awarded to specific small business groups, referred to as set-aside contracts.
In 50-plus pages, U.S. Attorney Timothy Garrison said there was “probable cause” to believe Torgeson, Dingle and McPherson competed for and received federal contracts to which they were not entitled by setting up at least three companies, Zieson Construction Co. LLC, Simcon Corp. and Onsite Construction Group LLC.
The civil action asks that properties and bank accounts owned Torgeson, Dingle, Zieson Construction and another co-conspirator be forfeited because they were proceeds of the alleged fraud.
A complex and detailed outline filed by Garrison says Zieson was set up as a service-disabled veteran-owned businesses, referred to as SDVOSB, and to fall under the 8(a) Business Development Program, which supports economically and socially disadvantaged groups…Throughout the court filing, the U.S. attorney listed millions of federal dollars paid to Zieson and Simcon and then funneled to Torgeson, McPherson and Dingle. Between April 2010 and January 2018, the U.S. Treasury paid about $317.4 million in “illicit funds” to Zieson, Simcon and Onsite, which Garrison’s office tracked to accounts benefiting Torgeson, McPherson and Dingle, as well as others associated with the alleged fraud.
Real veterans were caught in the Justice Department’s net because they pretended to be the decision makers of these companies.
Charges could also be levied against the veterans or minority individuals whose names were used to set up the company and allegedly fraudulently signed paperwork stating they were managing the companies.
