A former senior manager and contracting officer for Metro pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud Thursday.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (USAO-DC) charged that Scottie Borders used his position at the D.C.-area transit agency to collude with a New Jersey firm identified in court documents as “Company 1,” a provider of safety products and traffic signs.
From January 2011 to September 2020, the manager and other co-conspirators secured bids, contracts and purchase agreements between Metro and the New Jersey company. However, these agreements were made “based on materially false representations made to Metro, via wire, concerning the nature of the contracts, bids, and purchase agreements,” according to the USAO-DC.
In order to grease the skids for “Company 1,” Mr. Borders and co-conspirators falsified the bids of other businesses that had not, in fact, submitted bids.
Other businesses were unaware that their information had been used in relation to these specific WMATA bids.
For legitimate bids, Borders provided “Company 1” with information on rival bids.
Once “Company 1” was awarded a contract, Borders would insert unnecessary items into WMATA’s purchase orders, funneling more money to the company. Some of the equipment was itself substandard, and other items were never even delivered to WMATA.
Ultimately, Metro spent $1.3 million on these various purchase orders, contracts and bids. In exchange, Mr. Borders received items of value as payment, including NFL tickets.
Now, he faces both jail time and fines.
“The charge carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison and potential financial penalties. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Borders faces a likely range of 33 to 41 months in prison, a fine of up to $150,000, and restitution,” according to the prosecutor’s office.
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