Western Placer Waste Management Authority Update: Staff Recommends Scandal-Marred Provider With Proven History of Bribery, Fraud and Bid-Rigging?

I did not mince words in that title. FCC, the Waste provider recommended by the staff of that district has a lot of explaining to do. I just can’t clear the rumors about the junket to Spain that some of the staff are dreaming about after the anticipated adoption of the contract. There has to be an explanation about the grotesque lack of due diligence.

Well, allow your intrepid blogger to continue…

On October 22, Banks called a brief press conference at City Hall to discuss the charges brought against him by Pickett.

He said that Pickett did try to bribe him, but the bribe was for his support on the FCC Environmental Services contract.

Earlier this year, the mayor attempted to bring on FCC to replace Waste Management. However, the council twice voted down the proposal on a 3-4 vote. In either case, had Banks reversed his decision, the contract would have been approved.

“Pickett tried to bribe me into voting for the FCC contract the second time it was brought before the council,” Banks said at the time. “I do not know why he has the facts wrong, but let me clear: the offer was to bribe me for the FCC contract.”

Banks said at the press conference that Pickett was to receive $500,000 from FCC and had worked out a deal to help the company build out its Jackson headquarters.

This is from Jackson Mississippi ON 11-2-2021!!! Read more here.

Then there is the curious case of Bribery in Panama.

The billionaire contract was awarded to the Spanish construction company Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) , the Brazilian group Odebrecht and the French Alstom Group, which also operates in Switzerland with its transport division.

According to documents to which the newspaper SonntagsZeitung had access: 82 million euros were paid in bribes, through a Swiss bank, to obtain the contract. This is the result of the ruling of the Federal Criminal Court, in mid-May.

Ouch. Then on 10-30-2019 FCC got lit up by the Supreme Court of Spain (I wonder if that is on the list of venues for the upcoming tour…) with an indictment for corruption and money laundering. WHERE IS THE STAFF OF THE DISTRICT???

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s High Court on Wednesday charged Spanish building and infrastructure company FCC FCC.MC with corruption and money laundering in connection with 82 million euros ($91 million) in payments made in Panama.

The High Court’s investigative judges said FCC paid bribes to obtain metro and hospital contracts in the central American country between 2010 and 2014.

FCC declined to comment. It now has the opportunity to defend itself or appeal against the charges, before the judges decide whether to send the case to trial. The process could take months.

FCC is now controlled by Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, who took a 25% stake in 2014 and gained control of the board in 2016.

There is also this gem – that speaks to the irregularities in how they appear to bid contracts, this time in the polar opposite direction:

Documents published by the court on Wednesday show its investigation centered on allegations that FCC overcharged for steel in construction projects with a consortium including Brazilian company Odebrecht, using the funds obtained to pay bribes to officials in Panama.

When you are so bad that even the World Bank, known for its’ corruption blasts you, it is really awful:

WASHINGTON, September 16, 2020— The World Bank Group today announced the two-year debarment of FCC Construcción S.A., a Spain-based company that specializes in civil works construction, in connection with fraudulent and collusive practices during two bidding processes under the Río Bogotá Environmental Recuperation and Flood Control Project in Colombia.

Wait a minute – this is in Colombia and not Panama, meaning we have alleged fraud in Colombia and jerked off bidding and then in Panama (and maybe Jackson Mississippi) we have Bribery? WHERE IS THE STAFF OF THE DISTRICT???

FCC Construcción S.A. participated in the bidding processes under two World Bank-financed contracts under the project. In the first bidding process, the company arranged with public officials, through a subcontractor and a commercial agent, to have a competitor disqualified, which is a collusive practice, and the company misrepresented the use of the contract’s advance payment, which is a fraudulent practice. In the second bidding process, FCC Construcción S.A. knowingly misrepresented the composition and the roles of three companies within a consortium that would execute the contract, which is a fraudulent practice. The consortium that ultimately won the contract does not include FCC Construcción S.A..

and now the Staff of the Western Placer Waste Management Authority jammed out a biased report late on Friday before a holiday week in an attempt to ram down a contact for these folks? I am not one to buy conspiracy theories, but this is really making me wonder.

Alleged Bribery in Jackson Mississippi.

Alleged Bribery in Panama

Alleged Bid-Rigging and Fraud in Colombia

But Wait, there’s more… if you sign up with FCC you can get sued when they decide they are done playing!

Tensions between Panama and Spain’s Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) are intensifying over construction delays of the US$554mn Ciudad de la Salud health complex, which was awarded to the company in 2011.

President Laurentino Cortizo told local media on Thursday that the US$65mn compensation the firm is demanding for the five years of halted works is “inconceivable” and a “joke.”

“It is inconceivable to me that Panama owes FCC an amount when we know of irregularities that took place in previous governments and administrations,” he said, referring to an investigation that started in 2017 over alleged bribes for another project. 

The company, owned by Mexico’s Carlos Slim, is also under investigation in Spain for alleged links to the Odebrechtcorruption scandal.

“It is important to talk to FCC head-on to insist that there is a process that must be followed,” the president said.

Aside from the compensation, FCC filed a lawsuit against Panama’s social security agency CSS before the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, according to media reports.

The firm is seeking to end its contract with the agency and avoid a US$55mn fine CSS could demand for not completing the project, according to local news site La Celosía.

When FCC couldn’t deliver, they sued Panama!

I took note of the mentions of Carlos Slim.

Who is Carlos Slim? There is a fascinating expose here. Slim owns the New York Times and is one of the richest men in the world with a net worth equal to about 6% of the GDP of Mexico. I’d imagine this is why the articles about FCC include mention of him.

It is time for the Staff of the Western Placer Waste Management Authority to come clean about how they arrived at their report. Was it as simple as price fixation? Who did the research? How was it done? What conversations happened with FCC? Were promises made? What else happened?

Did FCC comply with the RFP requirements to disclose all unethical, illegal, civil, and criminal history? If so, did staff just ignore this? I found all of this with a simple Google search, so surely they must know…

But, then how would they see Christmas in Spain (https://www.idealista.com/en/news/lifestyle-spain/2019/12/04/7113-10-places-celebrate-christmas-spain)

In the next segment of our expose’ on the “recommended” provider of Waste Management – let’s return to America for more fun facts.

BLOGGER’S FOOTNOTE: Please note that RFP refers to government lingo for Requests For Proposal – aka the bidding process. The overriding issue with the apparent refusal or failure of the Staff of the district follows in the fine print of most every contract, but in the case of this one follows: