Asphalt Contractor to Pay Nearly $1.3 Million to Settle Claims that it Falsified Quality Test Results

MINNEAPOLIS – Anderson Brothers Construction Company of Brainerd LLC, a construction and paving company located in Brainerd, Minnesota, has agreed to pay $1,295,610 to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act and the Minnesota False Claims Act from 2017 through 2022 by routinely and knowingly falsifying test results to make its paving material appear to be higher quality than it was and submitting those falsified results to the government in seeking payments for road paving in Minnesota.  

The United States and the State of Minnesota alleged that, as a condition of payment for federally funded road paving contracts, Anderson Brothers was required to perform certain quality tests of its paving material and submit the results to the government.  The United States and the State of Minnesota further alleged that Anderson Brothers falsified the results and submitted them to the government to receive financial incentives for superior quality paving material and avoid deductions for lower-quality material.  As a result of those false test results, the United States and the State of Minnesota alleged that the government funded payments to Anderson Brothers for unearned incentives and Anderson Brothers avoided financial deductions that would have occurred had Anderson Brothers submitted truthful test results. Of the $1,295,610 civil settlement, the United States will receive $660,761 and the State of Minnesota will receive $634,849.

“Protecting taxpayer dollars from fraud and abuse is one of our top priorities,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Lisa D. Kirkpatrick. “The submission of false claims for federally funded government contracts will not be tolerated. This settlement should serve as proof that we will actively investigate this conduct whenever it occurs and will hold to account any company that fails to bill accurately for the products provided.”

“Today’s settlement reinforces the fact that companies doing business with the government must fully comply with federal regulations and contractual obligations,” said Special Agent in Charge Anthony Licari, Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Midwestern Region. “When fraudulent conduct like this undermines the integrity of highway paving putting the safety of the travelling public at risk, it’s our job, together with our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners, to put an end to it.”

The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Kacie Dixon, a former Bituminous Mix Technician at Anderson Brothers.  Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery.  The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Dixon v. Anderson Brothers Construction Company of Brainerd, LLC., Civil Action No. 22-cv-02078 (D. Minn.).  

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a joint effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota with assistance from the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Transportation.  The U.S. Government also received significant assistance in this matter from the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office and the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The matter was investigated by Fraud Section Trial Attorney Danielle Rowan and Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Fuller and Adam Hoskins for the District of Minnesota.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.