Dimauro Carpet & Tile to pay $1 million to settle claims of using false information to obtain state contracts – MassLive.com

A Western Massachusetts tile and carpet company has agreed to pay $1 million to settle allegations that they knowingly provided false information to obtain contracts with the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Dimauro Carpet & Tile, an East Longmeadow company, will pay the state $950,000 over the next five years and pay a further $50,000 toward a three-year monitoring program conducted by an independent ethics and compliance review organization.

Founded by Vincent Dimauro in 1996, Dimauro Carpet and Tile has been providing residential and commercial customers with services. The website states that Dimauro Carpet & Tile, Inc. is an authorized provider to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, an approved supplier to the Massachusetts Higher Education Consortium and a certified contractor to local, state and federal government.

From bedrooms and bathrooms to businesses and schools, no job is too big or too small for the Dimauro team, states the companys website.

The complaint that was filed with a proposed consent judgment at the Suffolk Superior Court alleges that Dimauro Carpet & Tile, Inc. violated the Massachusetts False Claims Act when the company submitted knowingly false applications to the states Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance to obtain certification.

Past and present owners Vincent Dimauro, Patricia Dimauro, and Paul Beturne then allegedly relied on those certifications and other false statements in bids for contracts it submitted to UMass.

The attorney generals False Claims Division alleges that from Sept. 2016 and Oct. 2019, Dimauro Carpet & Tile, Inc. submitted two bids for flooring installation contracts at UMass that listed the names of five alleged employees who would be performing the work. According to the complaint, none of the individuals listed in the bid were employees of Dimauro.

The company did not use its employees to install flooring but, instead, hired subcontractors for this work. Dimauro Carpet & Tile, Inc. then allegedly filed more than 100 false weekly payroll reports with UMass claiming to have paid the states prevailing wage rate and fabricating the number of hours worked on each job.

Got a news tip or want to contact MassLive about this story? Email newstips@masslive.com or message us on Facebook orTwitter. You can also call our news tips line at 413-776-1364.

Read the rest here:
Dimauro Carpet & Tile to pay $1 million to settle claims of using false information to obtain state contracts - MassLive.com