Oregon Public Broadcasting

The state of Oregon is no longer doing business with a contractor from Brooks. April Baer reports that Ross Brothers & Co. has settled a racketeering case with the state.

The Department of Transportation first noticed something was amiss with the Ross Brothers back in 2003. The company had sent multiple bills for some high-priced jobs they'd already completed and been paid for.

Last year, the Ross Brothers sued the state for breach of contract. After investigating further, the state filed a racketeering claim against the company.

This settlement ends the claim, and prevents one of the Ross Brothers' managers from doing business with the state.

The rest of the family does have the option of forming a new company, to take on the Ross Brothers' seven remaining contracts.

Patrick Cooney, a spokesman for ODOT, notes the company has a lot of unfinished business with the state.

Patrick Cooney   "The claims that were part of this injunction exceeded $7 million.  Those are claims that Ross had filed against the state which are now forfeited."

Cooney says the department has numerous levels of review designed to catch fraud, with both internal and external auditors.