Prosecutors reviewing conflict allegations with L.A. school construction

The Los Angeles County district attorney's Public Integrity Unit is reviewing whether a high-level consultant for the Los Angeles Unified School District's building program engaged in a conflict of interest. The public integrity unit has been looking at Bassam Raslan, a district regional director of construction and an owner of TBI Associates, which he co-founded to supply staff to the district's $20 billion school construction effort. The district's inspector general launched a fraud investigation last year regarding those allegations, but has not released any reports on the subject.
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FROM JUNE 2007: Some of the most prominent companies in the construction industry bid regularly to supply consultants to manage the Los Angeles Unified School District's massive school building program. Leading the pack in placing consultants is a small, 5-year-old company owned by two men who work for the school district as managers in the construction program that is responsible for hiring consultants. TBI Associates, which is under scrutiny by the district's inspector general for allegations of timecard fraud, supplies 38 of those 311 contract employees now working for the district, more than any of the 64 other firms that bid to supply consultants. (Los Angeles Times)

EARLIER: The Los Angeles Unified School District has limited the authority of one of its senior-level construction managers to supervise consultants that he supplies to the district through a private firm he operates. The district has decided that a higher-ranking manager will review timecards for consultants hired from TBI Associates when they are signed by Bassam Raslan, one of the company's owners and a district regional director of construction. The district is awaiting the results of an investigation by its inspector general before deciding whether to take action against Raslan or one of his consultants, Stephen Cole, who records show billed for dozens of days when he was absent from his principal job site. (Los Angeles Times)

The Los Angeles Unified School District allows one of its highest-ranking construction managers to run a side business supplying consultants to the $20 billion school-building program and, in some cases, to act as the prime watchdog over the accuracy of the hours they bill. In one case, records show that Bassam Raslan, L.A. Unified regional director of construction, repeatedly signed timecards for one staffer from his private firm, TBI Associates, after the consultant's direct supervisor said he refused because he believed they were padded. Raslan is a co-owner of the 5-year-old company, which makes a profit providing consultants to the school district at an average rate of $124 per hour. (Los Angeles Times)