Management Firm Probed in Overbilling : Fraud: Ventura County prosecutors and FBI agents are investigating whether construction supervisors charged twice for the same work.

Ventura County prosecutors and the FBI have launched a statewide investigation into an international construction management firm that allegedly overbilled clients for projects ranging from a $64-million performing arts center in Thousand Oaks to a new federal courthouse in San Francisco, The Times has learned.

Federal search warrants were served this week on the Los Angeles and Thousand Oaks offices of Lehrer McGovern Bovis Inc., the nation’s second-largest construction management firm, which is based in New York.

Sources said Thursday that the suspected fraud involves millions of dollars in bills for work on at least four projects in California, including the $83-million U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals courthouse renovation in San Francisco and the $64-million Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks, as well as construction at UCLA.

Lehrer McGovern Bovis’ top executive in Los Angeles, Joseph Scarano, said he had “no idea what this is about.” Asked about the allegations of systematic double-billing, Scarano added, “I can’t imagine where that is coming from.”

The investigation began about three months ago with a tip to the Ventura County district attorney’s office that the city of Thousand Oaks was being billed twice for management services at its new Civic Arts Plaza, built on the site of the former Jungleland wild animal park, according to sources.

When county prosecutors realized that the allegations extended to other projects around the state, they contacted the FBI, the sources said.

Although the inquiry focuses on California, the sources said investigators are also looking into possible fraud in billing of public agencies and private companies outside the state.

A source explained how the double-billing allegedly worked on the large projects:

“You’re working on one project and you bill two projects for the same hours. . . . It’s difficult for the victim to (realize) the problem. There’s no red flag. It’s not like a carpenter comes in the morning and works 8 to 5.”

The source added: “On the face of the documents, everything looks OK. What you’d really have to see are the documents for all their other projects to know. But I only see my bill, I don’t see yours. That’s why this is so terrific for the (perpetrators). It’s not something that’s discoverable with due diligence.”

In Thousand Oaks, Lehrer McGovern Bovis is working on the Civic Center and a new municipal service yard. The company also recently completed a grading project for the Calleguas Municipal Water District.

The city of Thousand Oaks and Calleguas are possible victims in the investigation, sources said.

Assistant Ventura County Dist. Atty. Colleen White would not discuss details of the investigation Thursday, saying only that she could confirm searches Wednesday “at several locations in Thousand Oaks and Los Angeles.”

The city of Thousand Oaks is not a target of the inquiry, she said. But she would not comment on whether any city employees are under investigation.

Gary Auer, head of the FBI’s Ventura County office, also declined to comment on the investigation except to confirm that the search warrants were served.

The 14-year-old construction management firm, which supervised construction of Euro Disney in Paris and refurbished the Statue of Liberty, has never been accused of illegal billing practices, Scarano said.

“We were completely floored by this whole thing,” added Scarano, president of the firm’s Western regional office. “I don’t know what (the investigators) are talking about. . . . We want to get this behind us as quickly as possible.”

The firm has been under contract with the city of Thousand Oaks since late 1989, first as a project manager supervising the design phase and then as a construction manager. Lehrer McGovern Bovis has managed the bid process and supervised the subcontractors hired for every job from hanging the building’s steel skeleton to installing the toilets.