The owner of a contracting firm in Damascus, Oregon, admitted paying an employee of a USPS prime contractor to steer repair jobs at postal facilities in five Western states from 2022 to 2024, the Justice Department says. Inflated estimates and invoices covered the payments, and the plea includes about $465,000 in restitution.
Why it matters: Paying for work on a federal job carries the same criminal exposure as taking the money, and USPS repair contracts are audited by its inspector general.
A federal indictment alleges the owner of glass, metal fabrication and electrical subcontracting companies paid about $5 million in wages without withholding taxes between 2017 and 2024, underreported about $13 million in receipts and used false financial statements to get loans and surety bonds. These are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent.
Why it matters: Off-the-books payroll lets a sub underbid everyone who pays taxes. The bonding counts also show sureties treating false financials as fraud.
The building in the Eastleigh district, reported as 18 stories, came down on Oct. 23. By the next evening rescuers had pulled two people out alive; seven people were officially missing, while the Red Cross was checking reports of more. Nairobi's governor said the structure lacked an occupation certificate.
Why it matters: Kenya's building inspectorate found most structures it audited last year failed standards or lacked approvals. It shows what thin inspection and oversight cost on a jobsite.
Under its trenching emphasis program, OSHA saw workers for Always Underground LLC, a utility contractor based in Frankfort, Illinois, in a trench more than eight feet deep with no protective system. The agency issued three repeat citations, for missing egress, missing cave-in protection and spoils kept within 2 feet of the edge, and a serious citation for missing hard hats. The company has 15 business days to respond or contest.
Why it matters: Repeat citations carry the largest penalties. Protection, a way out and a clear 2-foot edge are the first things inspectors check at any open trench.