“Three construction companies — two locally owned by brothers — misrepresented their status in a county project so one of the firms could be improperly paid as a small business, Broward County’s inspector general concluded.

In a 77-page report released Wednesday, Inspector General John W. Scott said the companies “orchestrated a scheme” to have Stanford and Sons Trucking Co. of Pompano Beach receive more than $400,000 in money that under county law was supposed to have gone to a small business.

The finding spurred County Administrator Bertha Henry to order the county attorney and other departments to pursue “all remedies available” under law to resolve the case. “The incidence of contractor misconduct, misrepresentation, falsehoods, and scheming … necessitates immediate action by the county,” she wrote.

According to Scott’s report, the county awarded a contract to Giannetti Contracting Corp., of Sterling Heights, Mich., to oversee a $6.5 million water and sewage project in Dania Beach in 2011. Under a 2009 county law, a portion of all projects must be awarded to small businesses, in this case 15 percent.

The report said Giannetti Contracting provided documents to the county “falsely representing” that Chin Diesel of Pembroke Pines, a certified small business, worked on the project. Giannetti then issued a check to Chin Diesel for $369,530. But the work, the inspector general said, had been done by Stanford and Sons, which listed Chin Diesel as a subcontractor.”

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