James Abadie, principal of Lend Lease, and U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch

The federal investigation into Lend Lease Construction is likely to extend far into the New York construction industry and is just one example of what some experts consider a widespread practice of fraudulent billing. The firm, formerly known as Bovis Lend Lease, agreed to pay $56 million to settle charges of over-billing clients at projects ranging from the construction of Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets, to the renovation of Grand Central Terminal more than a decade ago, in an investigation led by Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch. [more]

The former Deutsche Bank building in Lower Manhattan

Lend Lease, formerly known as Bovis Lend Lease, is expected to admit to fraud today, and pay a $50 million fine to avoid fraud charges, the New York Times reported. The criminal charges stem from the construction company overbilling the government, according to the Times, in which laborers received pay for two hours of overtime that they did not work so that Lend Lease could keep them motivated to work. [more]

Another construction supervisor and a demolition contractor were each cleared of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges today by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Rena Uviller, who said they were not responsible for the deaths of two firefighters at the former Deutsche Bank building in Lower Manhattan in 2007. According to the Daily News, Mitchel Alvo was acquitted of all charges, while the John Galt Corp. was convicted of misdemeanor reckless endangerment, which carries a likely $5,000 fine, but cleared of the two more serious charges. Last week, a Manhattan jury acquitted a senior site safety manager for Bovis Lend Lease and an asbestos abatement supervisor at the site of charges in connection with the case. [more]

A Manhattan jury today acquitted a senior construction supervisor of wrongdoing in the deaths of two firefighters at the former Deutsche Bank building in Lower Manhattan in 2007, the Wall Street Journal reported. The supervisor, Jeffrey Melofchik, had been on trial for manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, among several other charges, and was one of three supervisors charged in connection with the case. An asbestos abatement supervisor at the building was found not guilty of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment by the same jury yesterday. Melofchik had been working as a site safety manager for Bovis Lend Lease at the time of the fire, and was accused of failing to fix a faulty standpipe that would have otherwise allowed the two men who died to get water while fighting the blaze. [more]

Sept. 11 memorial contractor Bovis Lend Lease has been ordered to hire an independent watchdog to oversee its work, following a Department of Investigation probe that found possible incidences of bill-padding, according to the New York Daily News. Investigators say there’s evidence that Bovis may have improperly charged the city for bogus overtime costs on more than 100 different city-funded projects. The watchdog will review the builder’s “past and future financial activities,” according to a city spokesperson. [more]

Bovis Lend Lease is set to hand over $5 million to the city for construction project overcharges, the mayor’s office announced today. The settlement is the result of a New York City Department of Investigation review, which showed Bovis improperly paid overtime to workers when it wasn’t warranted. The DOI investigation showed that Bovis overcharged on more than 100 city-funded projects from 1999 to 2009. In a statement, DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said the investigation “shines a light on one such practice that drove up costs to the city.” TRD [more]

While local officials began publicly debating a new use for the post-demolition Deutsche Bank tower site last month, another battle over the one-time office building at 130 Liberty Street has been unfolding, according to the New York Times. After Bovis Lend Lease, the company in charge of the tower’s demolition, filed a complaint in court last month claiming that the city had stiffed it out of $80 million for work at the site, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation is firing back. The group filed a court document June 23 criticizing Bovis for having the “gall” to request more money after the repeated delays on the project. Avi Schick, chairman of the LMDC, said that Bovis has failed to adequately fulfill its role in the demolition. “There are two Bovises,” Schick said. “One that speaks with contrition and accepts responsibility for its safety lapses on the site, and then there’s the other Bovis with its had in the taxpayer’s pocket.” [NYT]

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Bovis Lend Lease is working overtime at 130 Liberty Street, according to the Downtown Express, where the demolition of the Deutsche Bank building has been plagued by delays. The crew has added an extra shift each day to the project, extending the workday by seven hours, as crews work from 7 a.m. to midnight on weekdays. As of late last year, the crew had demolished just two of the remaining floors, raising doubts over whether the job would be completed by the end of 2010, the set deadline for the job. A recent estimate pegged the cost of the demolition at around $300 million.

A letter sent to Bovis Lend Lease ordering the company to remove its team from the Deutsche Bank demolition project due to safety concerns has been made public, according to the Downtown Express. The letter, which David Emil, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., sent Jan. 29, expressed doubts over whether the Bovis team would be able to complete the project according to protocol. “We are not comfortable that the present team can assure compliance with the plans going forward,” Emil said in the letter. “Therefore, we request that you make appropriate changes in Bovis senior staff immediately.” Click here to see full letter. [more]

Since the city approved the demolition of the Deutsche Bank building two months ago, workers have only deconstructed two floors from the remaining 26 stories, raising doubts that the demolition will meet its latest deadline set for the end of 2010. If the demolition is not complete by then, it would cause further delays at other construction projects at the World Trade Center site. Officials at the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. said they are pushing the contractor, Bovis Lend Lease, to safely speed up work at the 130 Liberty Street project, but a timetable has not yet been set for completion. The building’s demolition, which was initially expected to occur by 2005, has faced numerous delays, as the expected costs for the deconstruction have steadily climbed.