KC grand jury: Men took $346M in contracts meant for minorities and disabled vets
A federal grand jury has indicted two men who pocketed $346 million in federal government contracts that were set aside for small businesses owned and operated by service-disabled veterans and minority-owned companies.
Patrick Michael Dingle, 48, of Parkville and Matthew L. Torgeson, 46, of Topeka were charged in a 16-count indictment returned Wednesday by a grand jury in Kansas City.
Prosecutors allege the two fraudulently obtained government certificates that targeted veteran-owned and small businesses so they could receive millions in federal payments.
According to the indictment, Dingle, Torgeson and Matthew C. McPherson, 43, of Olathe operated companies with straw owners who were qualified as being socially and economically disadvantaged persons or service-disabled veterans, but who did not control the companies.
The men allegedly used Stephon Ziegler, an African American service-disabled veteran, as the owner of Zieson Construction Co., which was based in North Kansas City. While Dingle managed the day-to-day operations, Dingle, Torgeson and McPherson controlled the long-term decision making, according to federal prosecutors.
Together, they fraudulently received 199 contracts from 2009 through 2018, where the federal government paid the construction company roughly $335 million.
Ziegler pleaded guilty in a separate, but related, criminal case.
Brian Gaddy, an attorney for Torgeson said in an email that his client will plead not guilty to the criminal charges. Torgeson’s former company served as a subcontractor to Zieson Construction and for government contractors.
”The regulatory scheme described in the Indictment was constantly changing and was overly technical and complex,” Gaddy said. “We believe the evidence will show that Matt Torgeson at all times acted in good faith in his dealings with Zieson and its ownership.”
In February 2014, Dingle, Torgeson and McPherson allegedly used the minority status of a construction company employee who is Native American to form another company. This allowed them to fraudulently receive $11.3 million for two contracts in 2016.
The employee, Rustin Simon, pleaded guilty in a related but separate criminal case.
This story was originally published June 27, 2019 at 6:02 PM.
