CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The highway electrical contractor Bayliss & Ramey, which was involved in a kickback scheme, is no longer eligible for state Highways work and is seeking bankruptcy protection, a lawyer told state legislators this morning.
“I’m pleased to report this morning that both Bayliss & Ramey and Dennis Corporation are effectively debarred,” said Jonathan Storage, counsel for the state Division of Highways.
He said Bayliss & Ramey was no longer pre-qualified for highways contracts and would not be considered pre-qualified in the future. He also said official debarment, which takes place in a 30-day window, should be completed by Sept. 25. He said the company’s officials have not, so far, contested the debarment process.
“Bayliss & Ramey is no longer going to be doing business with the state and is seeking bankruptcy protection,” Storage told lawmakers during a meeting of the Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on Dept of Transportation Accountability.
No bankruptcy appeared to be officially filed as of Tuesday morning, according to a search of Pacer, the service used to search federal court filings.
The scheme that was the subject of federal prosecution caused $1.5 million of state Highways projects to be illegally diverted to Dennis Corporation, a South Carolina consulting firm.
A state legislative audit presented last month took the state Division of Highways to task for not more aggressively pursuing debarment of Bayliss & Ramey and its officers.
Last month, highways officials said normal protocol is to keep a close eye on the legal process, and the normal trigger for debarment is a conviction.
The audit concluded that three contracts were bid to the company after the Dec. 13, 2016, guilty plea of Mark R. Whitt, former president of Bayliss & Ramey, to a count of wire fraud conspiracy in U.S. District Court.
The Legislative Auditor’s Office also recommended the state Purchasing Division carry through on debarring Bayliss & Ramey from bidding on any future state contracts.
“The scheme involving Bayliss & Ramey was an intentional violation of the competitive bidding laws of the State and since the company marked up the actual cost of the work invoices, the State ended up paying far more for these services,” the Legislative Auditor’s Office wrote. “This certainly seems to demonstrate a ‘wanton indifference’ and ‘serious harm to the public.'”
On Tuesday morning, state Senator Greg Boso asked about the status of Whitt, the former Bayliss & Ramey president who received a sentence of probation and was ordered to pay $250,000 in restitution to the state.
Boso said he and other legislators had heard Whitt had been seeking employment with another company that does business with the state.
“Can you tell me the status of that employment with Mr. Whitt might be?” asked Boso, R-Nicholas.
Storage, the Highways counsel, said that on August 16 the agency received an email saying Whitt would no longer be employed by Bayliss & Ramey.
“We had no indication where Mr. Whitt was going to be going,” Storage said.
He said Highways specifically reached out to a contractor where Whitt had been said to be seeking employment.
“We received a phone call the next day, and (the contractor) resolutely said there was no anticipation of hiring Mr. Whitt, and if the state did not want him to work for the company he was not going to employ Mr. Whitt,” Storage said. “Where Mr. Whit is employed now I would not be able to say.”