Michael S. Flynn, Bid-Rigging and Fraud, CT 2018

Michael S. Flynn, executive and co-owner of an insulation contracting firm based in Ridgefield, Connecticut, pleaded guilty today in Bridgeport federal court to orchestrating a years-long bid-rigging and fraud scheme that defrauded schools, hospitals, and businesses across New England. The scheme, which spanned from October 2011 to March 2018, involved Flynn conspiring with rival contractors to inflate bids on $45 million in insulation contracts, ensuring rigged outcomes that jacked up prices by at least 10%.

Court documents detail how Flynn and his co-conspirators used burner phones and an encrypted messaging app that erased communications to dodge detection while coordinating fraudulent bids on public and private construction projects in Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts. These contracts covered critical infrastructure at universities and medical centers—projects paid for by taxpayer dollars and institutional budgets gutted by the deliberate deception. The manipulation was systemic, with players taking turns winning jobs they never competed for fairly.

“Today’s guilty plea is the second relating to a $45 million scheme to cheat New England schools, hospitals, and other businesses by agreeing to fix prices on insulation contracts in violation of the antitrust laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “As this prosecution shows, the Justice Department and our law enforcement partners, including the FBI and DCIS, will use every available resource to detect and bring to justice individuals who attempt to hide their criminal conduct by using high-tech encryption apps, burner phones, or any other means.”

Flynn now faces up to 10 years in prison for the antitrust violation and a staggering 20 years for the fraud conspiracy charge. Fines could hit $1 million for the antitrust count and $250,000 for fraud—or double the illicit gain or victim loss, whichever is greater. His plea deal includes full restitution to victims and the resolution of civil forfeiture actions, including a $327,500 settlement on his Ridgefield home and the forfeiture of all seized bank accounts.

“This defendant profited handsomely by colluding with other insulation contractors and inflating bids on $45 million worth of insulation jobs,” said U.S. Attorney John H. Durham for the District of Connecticut. “The scheme victimized hospitals, universities and businesses throughout New England. I thank the FBI, DCIS, and the Antitrust Division for their ongoing efforts to bring the perpetrators of this brazen scheme to justice.”

The investigation remains active, led by the Antitrust Division’s New York Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, the FBI’s New Haven Field Office, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS). With one conviction already secured and Flynn’s cooperation expected, prosecutors signal more fallout is coming for those who turned public construction into a private piggy bank.

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