WASHINGTON – – The former CEO of the Canadian firm that focused on the treatment of contaminated soil was convicted Wednesday of conspiring to pay for kickbacks and committing major fraud against the United States, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
John Bennett of Vancouver was charged in August 2009 and extradited to the U.S. in November 2014 to face trial regarding the obtaining subcontracts for that treatment and disposal of contaminated soil in a Nj “Superfund” site overseen through the U.S. Epa and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“Superfund” sites are polluted locations designated through the American government for that clean up of hazardous material.
Bennett, the founder and chairman from the board of Bennett Environmental Inc., a strong with offices in Vancouver and Toronto, was convicted following a three-week trial in Newark, N.J.
“John Bennett corrupted the competitive bidding process if you are paying kickbacks in order to win a Superfund contract. He literally stole money in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer from the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.
Beginning in 2001, Bennett conspired with others at Bennett Environmental
to pay kickbacks more vital than $1 million to the project manager at Federal Creosote, a Superfund site located in Manville, N.J., in an effort to obtain contracts for his company, the justice department said.
‘He literally stole money from the United States’
The kickbacks included money transferred by wire to some co-conspirator’s shell
company, lavish trips and entertainment expenses, and personal gifts.
In exchange for the gifts and cash payments, the project manager at Federal Creosote provided Bennett Environmental employees with “last looks” at their competitors’ confidential bids.
“The supply of those last looks allowed Bennett Environmental to submit its own bid in the last second and outbid its competitors without independently determining
its price,” the justice department said inside a statement.
The RCMP and the Canadian justice department assisted with the fraud investigation.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 27.
