PrintThe companies got contracts meant for those based in poor neighborhoods or owned by minorities or disabled veterans, according to a USA Today analysis of federal contracting records and reports on ineligible companies. The Air Force awarded $21.2 million of the work, and the Department of Veterans Affairs awarded $2.8 million, among others.
Watchdogs including the Government Accountability Office have criticized oversight of the programs. In the past two years, the GAO has singled out 39 businesses, including five that got stimulus work, as improperly getting $235 million in set-aside contracts since 2003.
"When impostors game these programs, they rob deserving small firms of contracting opportunities," House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., said in an e-mail.
Small Business Administration and VA officials say they are cracking down on fraud. SBA officials have visited more than 1,000 companies since March to check whether they qualify as disadvantaged, said Joe Jordan of SBA's government contracting office.
Companies that received stimulus contracts include:
_Platinum One Contracting: In 2008 and 2009, GAO reported the Maryland company had improperly joined a program for disadvantaged businesses by designating a house in a blighted area as its headquarters. The SBA proposed banning the company from government work in January 2009. Still, Platinum One in April won $2.2 million in roofing work at Andrews Air Force Base. The company was removed from the set-aside program in July.
Company lawyer Brian Stolarz said Platinum One "believes it complied in good faith" with SBA rules. Spokeswoman Lt. Col. Ann Stefanek said the Air Force, which hasn't canceled the contract, wasn't required to check the company's status because it got the new work under an existing contract for disadvantaged companies.
_Corners Construction: An October GAO report said the California company was ineligible for the disabled veteran program because it was improperly subcontracting all of its work to larger companies. William Last, the company's lawyer, said the GAO was wrong because Corners' agreements with other companies comply with federal rules.
Corners got stimulus contracts last year worth $570,000 from the VA and $262,000 from the Interior Department, records show. The VA's inspector general is investigating Corners, and department managers are waiting for the results before deciding on "the appropriate action," VA spokeswoman Katie Roberts said in an e-mail.
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