California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
Two environmental consulting firms, accused of conspiring with a laboratory to falsify invoices submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board’s Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund for reimbursement, have been fined and disqualified from future assistance programs.
AdvancedGeo Inc., a Stockton-based company, paid a $230,000 penalty. Associated Soils Analysis Inc., located in Tulare, will pay $86,651.
In both instances, the State Water Board’s Fraud, Waste and Abuse Prevention Unit uncovered schemes to inflate reimbursement requests from the cleanup fund in return for hidden kickback payments from Cal Tech Laboratories Inc. and its owner, Roobik Yaghoubi.
In the AdvancedGeo Inc. investigation, staff uncovered inflated invoices for laboratory costs that were submitted to the UST Cleanup Fund. The Associated Soils Inc. inquiry revealed excessive subcontractor costs, billing rates, hours and miles, along with ineligible markup.
“Deceptive billing practices deprive Californians of the full benefit of their investments in programs that protect public health and the environment,” said Yvonne West, director of the board’s enforcement unit. “We take protecting the state’s funds and its waters seriously and will hold anyone accountable who misrepresents themselves to fraudulently obtain state money.”
Since launching an enforcement initiative in 2011 to deter, investigate and prosecute fraud against the cleanup fund, the board has disqualified 11 businesses and 16 individuals from participating in the cleanup program, in addition to administering penalties and initiating civil and criminal prosecutions.
Yaghoubi has been convicted of the charges and received a suspended sentence of 16 months with three years of probation. He also was ordered to perform 30 days of community service and pay $190,000 in restitution, including $70,000 seized from his home. Additionally, he pled guilty to a false data charge.
