A project manager for the $568 million upgrade to the Water Pollution Control Plant in Arlington County has been sued by his employer for allegedly embezzling $5 million in profits.
County Manager Barbara Donnellan said the county will investigate whether it was ever over-billed because of the scam or if any county employees were involved in the scheme.
“We have a special fiduciary responsibility for public funds,” Donnellan said in a statement. “We will do everything we can to make sure that the project and Arlington taxpayers were not hurt by these perpetrators.”
Jeff Oliver, who helped manage the near-complete work to the water plant, was sued by Alberici Constructors Inc. in a case filed in the U.S. District Court in St. Louis on April 27, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. The case claims that Oliver and two others set up a scheme to over-bill contracts and keep part of the extra profit for themselves.
The suit seeks $4.8 million in damages. The case has also been turned over to the U.S. Attorneys office in St. Louis.
Alberici told Arlington County officials that the county was not overcharged on the water pollution project.
