Feds are investigating COVID-related cleaning contracts in South Jersey

Federal authorities are investigating cleaning contracts awarded during the COVID-19 pandemic to a South Jersey company by government offices in Gloucester, Camden, Burlington, and Cumberland Counties, according to a report in Politico.

Gloucester County Counsel Eric Campo told Politico’s New Jersey Playbook that the federal investigation “appears to be focused on COVID-related cleaning contracts awarded by governmental entities” in those four counties.

“I can confirm that there is an investigation,” John Carr, Cumberland County counsel, told The Inquirer on Tuesday. “And we are cooperating fully.” He added that he had no knowledge of other details of the probe.

The investigation appears to center on a Marlton-based cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting company.

A person with knowledge of some aspects of the inquiry told The Inquirer that the cleaning company received no-bid contracts from the state during the pandemic in 2020. The person was not authorized to speak about the case and asked for anonymity to do so.

During an emergency, state laws nationwide can authorize needed contracts on a no-bid basis. Between January and October 2020, the 50 U.S. states collectively spent billions of dollars through emergency, no-bid contracts related to the pandemic, according to a 2020 study of response to the then-ongoing pandemic by the Levin Center of Wayne State University Law School in Detroit.

Officials in Gloucester, Camden, and Burlington Counties did not respond to requests for comment. Representatives of the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not return phone calls.