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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — A construction bonding company that was recently said to be based in Providence was allegedly “operating illegally” in five states according to an arrest warrant filed in a toxic dumping scandal. Records show Leo Rush, 77, of Pelham, New Hampshire, has owned a number of performance bonding firms, including Newport Insurance Company that listed Westminster Street as its address on its website. Contractors are required to buy bonds to cover the cost of a project if something goes wrong, with the insurer accepting the potential multimillion-dollar risk in exchange for a percentage of the total cost of the project. The bonds protect taxpayers, and state regulators have told Target 12 municipalities are required and expected to check if the bonds are legitimate. Rush pleaded not guilty to five counts of mail fraud and five counts of wire fraud last month in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire for allegedly selling bogus bonds from 2012 to 2019. A warrant executed last summer to search Rush’s New Hampshire home alleged he made more than $1 million in one year around 2007 selling “fake bonds” to companies around the country. The document also stated over the course of about a year, ending last September, Rush deposited approximately $230,000 in sales into his account from “fake surety bonds” sales. The Target 12 Investigators first reported allegations about Rush’s businesses in July 2017, when Coventry developer John Gauvin came forward with claims about a Rush bond he said was “not worth the paper it was written on.” Gauvin had hired Julian Development to clear a large piece of land in Plainfield, Connecticut in 2013, but later discovered the bond the contractor presented to the town was written by Rush’s Great Northern Bonding, which was not licensed in Connecticut. ulian Development co-owner Jason Julian has been arrested in Fairfield in a toxic dumping scandal that also allegedly involved town officials Joseph Michelangelo and Scott Bartlett. The warrant pointed out “Cease and Desist Orders have been issued in Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Florida, all barring Rush’s companies from issuing insurance.” Gauvin has filed a suit against Julian Development for using a fraudulent bond for his project, and he said he is planning to sue the Town of Plainfield for not inspecting the document. Up until last year, the Newport Insurance website listed the Alice building on Providence’s Westminster Street as its address, but the site now states the company is based in Haiti. The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation (DBR) told Target 12 in 2017 state regulators had “often frustrating” contact with Rush as far back as 2007 when the first of several cease and desist orders was issued. Rush has told Target 12 multiple times his bonds are legitimate and he has done nothing wrong. Gauvin said his 7-year ordeal has cost him about $500,000 in legal fees, delayed his project by several years and showed how “toothless” cease and desist orders are. “The biggest thing I discovered was how many municipalities, state and federal agencies did not know how to validate a surety bond,” Gauvin said. “Of they just decided to play Russian Roulette and hope that the project goes smoothly.” https://www.wpri.com/target-12/more-claims-about-where-and-when-ri-company-was-operating-illegally/

Nevada’s regulatory stance on cryptocurrency kiosks has shifted, now requiring a state money transmission license Speaking with CoinDesk, BitAML Senior Advisor Annelise Strader said Nevada abruptly and without announcement changed its regulatory stance on cryptocurrency kiosks. Following the last legislation session closing in May without passing a proposed cryptocurrency bill, Strader says the state’s regulatory team changed its interpretation of what constituted a money transmitter within the state. Kiosks must be licensed by the state and will require a surety bond requirement. Priced at $5,000 per kiosk, surety bonds are paid to the state as an insurance mechanism for customers against business failure. Strader first spoke with the state regulator on behalf of a BitAML customer caught in the red tape. Months followed before an answer was given, Strader said. Following up with the Nevada Division of Financial Institutions, state regulator Julie Hanivold said they were waiting on the cryptocurrency regulation bill to pass before taking action. The regulator began reviewing the matter one year ago. With the bill failing to pass, the regulator self-determined to reinterpret current statutes concerning state money transmissions. Under the new interpretation, any transfer of value–money, credit, virtual currency, or other–falls under the license. Businesses and proprietors must apply and complete a checklist to obtain a license. Included in the list is a surety bond requirement of $10,00 upfront plus $5,000 for each location. Bond requirements max out at $250,000. Hanivold said all requirements are publicly posted on the state’s website but they have no future plans of issuing a press release on the matter. The regulator does plan on calling back a dozen or so businesses that have inquired over the past year. Paraphrasing her conversation with Hanivold and confirmed by CoinDesk, Hanivold said: “We’re not going to go hunting and penalizing any kiosks, but six months down the road if any action hasn’t been taken, [we will begin notifying owners.]” https://www.coindesk.com/nevada-cryptocurrency-kiosks-now-require-money-transmission-licenses

Beginning June 1, the National Supplier Clearinghouse began sending letters to Medicare-enrolled dentists notifying them that a surety bond of at least $50,000 per office location may be required to initiate or continue their Medicare enrollment as a supplier of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthodontics and supplies. Prior to 2019, dentists were exempt from this rule, “Medicare Program: Surety Bond Requirement for Suppliers of Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS),” published by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid in 2009. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, as of April 2019, 1,365 dentists were enrolled as DMEPOS suppliers in Medicare, which amounts to an estimated 100 dentists in California who should have received the letter. CDA Practice Support and The Dentists Insurance Company report that some members upon receipt of the letter have called with questions about their obligations and whether they meet the surety bond exception 42 CFR 424.57(d) (15)(i)(c). According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, as of April 2019, 1,365 dentists were enrolled as DMEPOS suppliers in Medicare, which amounts to an estimated 100 dentists in California who should have received the letter. CDA Practice Support and The Dentists Insurance Company report that some members upon receipt of the letter have called with questions about their obligations and whether they meet the surety bond exception 42 CFR 424.57(d) (15)(i)(c). Because a dentist acts exclusively as a DMEPOS supplier when furnishing an oral appliance prescribed by another practitioner, the dentist will not typically qualify for the surety bond exception. Similarly, dentists who supply DMEPOS and perform tasks that involve device fitting and assessing the patient for that device do not meet the exception in the regulation that applies “only to services in which the diagnosis, prescription and fitting occur ‘as part of’ the physician service,” according to the CMS fact sheet dated June 1. For example, oral appliance therapies for sleep apnea are considered DMEPOS items that require a written order from the treating physician. As such, dentists who are furnishing oral appliances for sleep apnea are required to have and maintain a surety bond of at least $50,000 per office location. In other terms, as reported June 17 by the ADA, “CMS said the surety bond exception only extends to physicians who are both prescribing and filling the product in the course of their own ‘physician service.’” The letter from National Supplier Clearinghouse outlines one of three actions that the supplier must take within 60 days of the date of the notice: Provide proof of a valid surety bond. Voluntarily terminate their DMEPOS enrollment. Provide proof that all DMEPOS items provided are for the supplier’s own patients as part of their physician service. CMS notes in its fact sheet that it will deactivate suppliers’ billing privileges if they fail to obtain, timely file or maintain the specified surety bond. http://www.cda.org/news-events/surety-bonds-required-for-dentists-enrolled-as-dmepos-suppliers

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‘We just can’t afford to let our infrastructure continue to age,’ Mayor John Tory says Toronto has embarked on its “busiest” construction season ever with slightly more than $1 billion budgeted this year for work on roads, bridges, expressways, sewers and water mains, Mayor John Tory says. “We just can’t afford to let our infrastructure continue to age,” Tory told reporters at a news conference at city hall on Monday. “We’ve got to get on with the construction season.” Toronto’s transportation and water infrastructure is used by millions of city residents, businesses and visitors every day and that infrastructure needs to be reviewed, renewed and upgraded to ensure the city can cope with booming growth, he said. “Over time, that use by all of those people, increasing numbers of people, takes its toll.” Tory described the schedule as “robust” and the funding commitments as “massive.” The projects will ultimately improve daily life in Toronto, he added. Expect a ‘busier’ summer, mayor says The mayor said the projects will cause disruption but it’s important to remember that each project represents tax dollars at work. “It will be a busier summer, with all of this work on our roads taking place.” The mayor said the money set aside for infrastructure projects needs to “stay put.” Cuts by the provincial government could put these commitments at risk, he added. Projects ‘need to be planned well in advance’ “Our city cannot afford to make tough financial decisions after the budget has already been approved. These investments need to be planned well in advance,” he said. “We will remind everyone, including the government of Ontario, that Toronto is the economic engine of this province and this country.” The planned work will result in paving of about 140 kilometres of roads and improvements to about 200 kilometres of sewers and water mains, the city said in a news release on Monday. Construction will take place across Toronto on more than 600 roads. The city said it will try to co-ordinate construction to minimize disruption. Read More … https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/busiest-construction-season-launched-toronto-john-tory-1.5134369

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recognizes the Office of Surety Guarantees award winners for their continued work to help small contracting businesses acquire surety bonds. Three SBA surety bond partners were selected to receive awards based on their participation, activity, claims and recovery, and their commitment to helping small businesses obtain contracts with both government and private sector entities. Crum & Forster was recognized as Surety of the Year. The Surety Place and Kenneth Turner of KOG International, Inc. were honored as Surety Agency of the Year and Surety Agent of the Year, respectively. “The success of the Surety Bond Guarantee (SBG) Program is a direct result of our great relationship with the surety industry. The awards are an important way to recognize and thank our partners for helping small and emerging businesses requiring surety credit in the marketplace,” said Peter C. Gibbs, Director for the Office of Surety Guarantees. Surety of the Year award recipient, Crum & Forster, has been a participant in the SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Prior Approval program since 2017. Despite their short time as an SBA partner surety company, Crum & Forster has grown their activity by over 4,000% and has assisted over 100 small and emerging businesses in partnership with SBA. Crum & Forster has a history of focusing on the needs of its clients and has been providing bonding solutions since 1900 and insurance since 1822. Surety Agency of the Year, Surety Placement Services, LLC dba The Surety Place, is a bond only agency in Scottsdale, Arizona. They have been working with the SBA since 2010 providing bonds in all 50 states. Founded in 2002, The Surety Place provides tailored bonding solutions through knowledgeable staff with over 45 years of combined surety experience. The Surety Agent of the Year, Kenneth C. Turner of KOG International, Inc., has been active in the surety industry since 1996. He has developed an extensive network of surety industry contacts and with years of expertise brings these resources together to better serve his clients. Turner placed his first client in the SBA’s SBG Program in 2003 and continues to actively promote SBA-backed surety bonds to numerous small businesses today. The SBA Surety Bond Guarantee program has 36 surety partners, 350 active authorized agents nationwide and guaranteed more than 10,000 bonds with a contract value of over $6 billion in fiscal year 2018. More information about the SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program is available at www.sba.gov. Questions from surety companies may be directed to Peter C. Gibbs, Director of the Office of Surety Guarantees, at [email protected]. https://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/sba-recognizes-the-office-of-surety-guarantees-award-winners#.XNrsCY5KiUk