BOSTON, Oct. 12, 2012—A Revere man who obtained more than $45,000 for tree-trimming contracts in Revere is due in court next week on charges that he rigged the bidding system by falsely submitting higher cost estimates from bogus or defunct companies, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

The Suffolk County Grand Jury on Sept. 27 returned a 12-count indictment charging DANIEL HIBBARD (D.O.B. 4/13/60) with six counts each of procurement fraud and presenting a false claim to a public agency. One count of each offense relates to frauds allegedly perpetrated against the City of Revere, and the remainder relate to frauds allegedly perpetrated against the Revere Housing Authority.

Three companies, each with a different name but all sharing Hibbard’s business telephone number, were awarded a total of five tree trimming and removal contracts by the Revere Housing Authority between 2007 and 2009. In each case, the company linked to Hibbard had presented bids lower than two other companies.

Hibbard allegedly posed as his own competition in the bidding process, intentionally submitting higher bids from two of the alleged dummy companies using the names of businesses that had once operated within Massachusetts but were defunct at the time of the bids. The third used the name of a company that Hibbard had won an earlier contract with.  As a result, prosecutors say, Hibbard was able to control the price the Revere Housing Authority would pay for its arborist services and obtained $30,550 in payment over three years.

In 2009, Hibbard won a multi-year contract with the City of Revere to perform the city’s tree removal work. Companies providing services to the City must have liability insurance, but Hibbard’s business didn’t for part of the contract period. He is additionally charged with providing the City of Revere with a falsified certificate of insurance. By fraudulently claiming to have the necessary insurance coverage, Hibbard was paid $15,100.

Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Goldberger of the DA’s Special Prosecutions Unit led the grand jury investigation that ended with Hibbard’s indictment. Hibbard is expected to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on Monday.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.