Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee directed a $5.2 million federally funded state contract to a company formed for that purpose, although there is insufficient evidence to bring a charge in the case, according to findings released on Oct. 29 by Attorney General Peter Neronha.
A legal memo and related documents from Neronha mark the end of a three-year probe into the contract awarded by the state to the ILO Group, which was meant to help with school reopenings after the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Neronha, McKee intentionally and against the findings of a state review team directed the lucrative contract “to a company formed for that purpose by” ILO Group CEO Julia Rafal-Baer, who was close to Michael C. McGee, an associate of the governor.
An email sent by Rafal-Baer on the same day the school reopening RFP was posted by the state “further supports the conclusion the procurement process was manipulated from the outset,” Neronha writes.
The email reads in part: “It’s a fixed RFP but luckily I know the person it’s fixed for (smiling winking emoji).”
McKee, whose office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has maintained that he did nothing wrong in connection with the ILO Group contract.
This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.
