Contractors use shell games to hide owners, cheat taxpayers
> ... abusing programs intended for small businesses owned by “service-disabled veterans, women, minorities, or economically and socially disadvantaged individuals;”<p>Yap, saw that while bidding on projects. So and so would find some relative or friend who matches one or more of those categories and then claim they were the owner on paper to get the contract.<p>Some schemes were running for 20 some years. For instance case 30 running since 1999, awarded $52M.<p>In case 18, they received over $200M. That's a lot of money wasted.<p>But good thing they were caught, surely they will receive harsh sentences?<p>> POGO determined is likely a recent case involving a Kansas City, Missouri-area construction company owner who was sentenced to 18 months in prison.<p>No, not really. Just 1.5 years after stealing $13.7 million.<p>There are more instances that are shady but harder to track, such as the government entity writing the specs to match exactly one company's product. Let's just say by a company owned by their college buddy. So on paper they may be lots of bids, but surprise, only this one company ends up matching up.