Attorney General William Tong announced a $360,756 settlement with B & W Paving & Landscaping, LLC (B &W) and Advance Resources, LLC (AR), and their principals resolving an investigation initiated in early 2023 into illegal bid-rigging on a state paving contract in violation of the Connecticut Antitrust Act. The investigation, conducted by the Office of the Attorney General, found that the companies, owned by a husband and wife, shared sensitive pricing information and precoordinated winning bids.
“The alleged actions of these asphalt paving companies and their principals were a blatant attempt to rig the bidding process and manipulate the market for public contracts. Bid-rigging illegally eliminates competition-- hurting consumers and taxpayers alike. We will continue to aggressively protect the integrity of our state procurement system and will hold those who distort the marketplace accountable,” said Attorney General Tong.
Under the settlement agreement, the two contractors – B & W and AR – and their respective principals, a husband and wife, were alleged to have harmed competition in the supply of asphalt paving services to state agencies and municipalities that relied upon the bids submitted under the state contract by engaging in a bid-rigging conspiracy that created a false appearance of competition and manipulated the competitive bidding process for subcontracted work in violation of federal and state antitrust laws. As a part of the settlement, the contractors and their principals agreed to pay the state a total of $216,454 in civil penalties, with an additional $144,302 deferred on the condition that the contractors fully comply with the terms of the agreement. They also agreed to divest and dissolve AR. The remaining company, B & W, agreed to adopt a robust antitrust compliance program to help ensure that they do not violate the antitrust laws in the future. Moreover, B & W agreed to cooperate with future antitrust investigations.
Anyone with information concerning bid rigging, price-fixing, or other anticompetitive conduct should contact the Attorney General’s Antitrust Section at (860) 808-5354 or email at: ag.antitrustcomplaints@ct.gov.
Assistant Attorney General Julián Quiñones, Investigators Timothy Edwards and Robert Shreders, and Deputy Associate Attorney General Nicole Demers, Chief of the Antitrust Section, assisted the Attorney General in this matter.
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