Contractor Bankruptcy

Philadelphia Demolition Contractor Has Criminal Record for Insurance Fraud

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“The contractor hired to demolish the building at 2136-38 Market St. in Philadelphia has a criminal record stemming from a phony car-wreck scheme with a Philadelphia police officer, according to court records.

And his demolition work next to a Salvation Army thrift shop worried neighbors, workers and others in the days before Wednesday’s fatal collapse, because an adjoining wall was left unsupported.

The demolition was being done by Griffin Campbell Construction of 1605 Butler St. That North Philadelphia address is also the residence of Griffin T. Campbell, 49, who could not be reached for comment.

Campbell has city permits to demolish six other properties, including three Market Street properties owned by STB Investments Corp., the owner of the collapsed building. The principal of STB is Richard Basciano, owner of many seedy properties and once dubbed “the undisputed king of Times Square porn.

According to court records, Campbell filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection in March, listing $221,000 in liabilities, including $10,000 in unpaid city business taxes and delinquent state and federal taxes, as well as numerous bank liens on properties he owns in North Philadelphia.

Campbell pleaded guilty in April 2009 to having filed a false insurance claim, claiming to be a passenger in a car involved in a 2005 auto collision that was actually a hoax to defraud an insurance company.

After filing the false claim, Campbell was paid $17,500 by Cambridge Insurance Co., plus $5,856 for medical bills. The scam unraveled when a Philadelphia officer, Deshane Riggins, admitted preparing “numerous fictitious accident reports” and identified Campbell’s as one of them.

Police described the case as one of at least 45 phony auto accidents staged by Wallace “Pops” Morris of Kingsessing, the ringleader of the scam. Riggins, the officer who made the scam possible, was paid $400 to $500 for each false report corroborating an accident. He was fired in 2008 after pleading guilty to 19 counts of insurance fraud.”

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Surety pays $789,000 to 35 subs who worked on Vt. fire station

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Nearly three dozen subcontractors who said they weren’t paid for work on a $5.9 million Vermont fire station have received $789,000 in payments from a bonding company after the lead contractor filed for bankruptcy protection. On another of the contractor’s projects, a state office building in Brattleboro, Vt., a surety is in the process of making payments to subcontractors. Officials of Rockingham, Vt., said they gave the same contractor $21,000 to obtain a bond, but the company failed to do so.

“Nearly all subcontractors who claimed they were owed money by a Keene construction company have been paid or will be paid, months after complaints first surfaced.

Earlier this year, a number of subcontractors came forward saying they had not been paid by Baybutt Construction Corp. for projects they had worked on, including the $5.9 million Keene fire station, the $2.9 million renovation project at the Rockingham Free Public Library in Bellows Falls and the $2.6 million renovation project for the Vermont state office building in Brattleboro.”

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Contractor bankruptcy stalls Refuge project

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“Construction on the new Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge headquarters and visitor center came suddenly to a halt May 1 when T.G. Constructors filed for bankruptcy.

“We had been getting some phone calls from some sub-contractors and workers saying they hadn’t received payments due,” Barron Crawford, refuge manager, said Thursday.

“We passed them along to the Shaw Group, the architect-engineering company in charge of the project,” he said. “They took over after the bankruptcy and have been working with the bonding company, attorneys and subcontractors since then trying to settle claims.”

Crawford also said the Shaw Group is not planning to hire another contractor but instead will take charge of the project and subcontract the rest of the work.”

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