Overbilling on jail job claimed

Thursday, June 12, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.

A Las Vegas construction company double-billed and overcharged $15 million for the 1,300-bed expansion of the Clark County jail, officials allege.

In a May 30 letter to AF Construction, Chief Deputy District Attorney Lee Thompson asks the company to provide documentation explaining the overcharges, which the county has already paid for.

If AF Construction does not provide the information by the end of this month, the county will "initiate all appropriate action against AFC and its bonding company to recover the damages caused," the letter states.

The county's letter alleges AF Construction misrepresented how much of the project was completed when they submitted applications for payment.

County Aviation Director Randy Walker, who supervised the jail expansion, could not be reached for comment.

Terry Murphy, spokeswoman for AF Construction, said this morning the county's letter "is completely without foundation." The company expects to have a formal response in the next few days, Murphy said.

"The county reviewed, verified and certified every single pay application we sent in and checked it before they paid it," Murphy said. "If they had problems with what we were submitting, I don't know why they paid it."

AF Construction has been in business in Clark County for more than 30 years, and did work on the county industrial center and the Silver Bowl remodeling, Murphy said. The company has also done work for the Clark County School District.