City Sues Tutor-Saliba over Airport

SAN FRANCISCO-The City of San Francisco has filed a lawsuit against Tutor-Saliba Corp., one of the largest construction firms in the United States that may bar the company from bidding on construction projects in San Francisco.

The city attorney has accused Tutor-Saliba, the major contractor of the San Francisco International Airport expansion project, of overcharging the city millions of dollars, as well as manipulating and defrauding the city’s minority contracting program to win bids it shouldn’t have won. The city seeks $30 million in damages, forfeiture of profits and potentially tens of millions in additional damages and penalties for defrauding the minority-hiring program from Tutor-Saliba and its partner companies, Perini Corp. and Buckley & Co. Inc.

According to the city attorney, the contractor submitted fraudulent bills to the city, charging more than $980 million for $620 million in contracts it won. Allegedly, the company submitted proposals with dramatically low bids in order to win major contracts, and then submitted fraudulent bills to increase profits. The company has denied the allegations. Tutor-Saliba could not be reached for comment.

In addition, the lawsuit claims that Tutor-Saliba cited a false subcontractor, Accu-Crete, on its proposals in order to defraud the minority-hiring program. The lawsuit has been filed in federal court.