A former senior manager for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority pleaded guilty to a nine-year fraud scheme in which he manipulated the agency’s procurement process to enter into contract deals for his own personal gain.
Scottie Borders, 61, pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday, admitting to facilitating fraudulent contract deals with a New Jersey signage company in exchange for items of value, such as NFL tickets, according to the Department of Justice. Over the nine-year scheme that lasted from January 2011 to September 2020, WMATA paid the company, only referred to as “Company 1” in court documents, more than $1.3 million for items and services.
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As part of the scheme, Borders would use his position as the primary point of contact to secure contracts and purchase agreements to ensure Company 1 was selected for lucrative bids, according to the DOJ. Borders entered into several agreements with Company 1, a producer and supplier of traffic signs and safety products, after making “false representations” to WMATA about the nature of the deals.
For example, Borders and his co-conspirators would present falsified bids and contracts to WMATA officials from companies that either did not submit bids or did not know their information was being presented to the agency, court documents state. This was done to ensure WMATA would choose Company 1 to enter into lucrative contract deals over its competitors.
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After WMATA entered into deals with Company 1, Borders would then submit orders that he “knew was unnecessary, substandard, and/or never actually provided to WMATA,” according to the DOJ. Overall, WMATA paid the company more than $1.3 million over the nine-year period for multiple reasons. These include purchases for bus stop signs, poles, flags, decals, and tools.
A charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud has a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and possible fines, although it’s likely Borders will only face 33 to 41 months in prison and a fine of up to $150,000, according to the DOJ. He is scheduled to face sentencing on Jan. 19, 2023.
