Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corp. Sues Advisors, Accountant and a Developer

Date: September 3, 2010

Source: News Room

The Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, which operates the state's major landfill, sued its former investment adviser and two Providence accounting firms for their alleged roles in corruption and mismanagement at the state waste management agency. According to reporting by The Providence Journal, one of the three lawsuits filed in Superior Court accuses Providence investment adviser Alfred Van Liew and his companies of negligence and breach of contract. The suit alleges Van Liew made improper investments with some of the $100 million in agency funds he helped manage and, that he failed to disclose that a RIRRC board member, John St. Sauveur, was also a paid director of his company.

The two accounting firms were accused of failing to report fraud, abuse and illegal activities. Officials at both firms denied wrongdoing. Edmund A. Restivo, a managing partner of one of the firms, Restivo Monacelli, defended his firm's audit by saying "We weren't hired to uncover fraud and illegal activities," rather to perform an audit. The agency is also suing Warwick, RI-based Ahlborg Construction Corp. for building an unnecessary tipping facility at the landfill in what it calls a "$20 million blunder."

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