Square 516S Office Venture LLC, owns the building that General Services Administration and American Bridge operate out of.
GSA is a government organization, and they make their rental agreements available for public review.
Lets's compare rent payments made by GSA to those made by American Bridge.
From 2009 to 2012, GSA was making rental payments to Square 516S Office Venture LLC at the following address:
During the same timeframe, American Bridge was making rental payments to Square 516 Office Venture LLC at a different address: It's very subtle, but take note to how American Bridge makes payments to a different company - Square 516 (without the S), located at a different address.
In February 2012, Square 516S Office Venture moved to a new address. GSA signed an amended lease agreement to reflect the change:However, during the same timeframe, America Bridge was still sending rent payments to Square 516 at a different address:
Once more, in August 2012, GSA signed a final amended lease agreement with Square 516S:
This third address is still in effect today.
Yet still to this day, American Bridge is sending rent payments to Square 516 at a different address. Square 516 Office Venture LLC Doesn't Exist
"Square 516 Office Venture LLC," the organization American Bridge sends rent payments to, doesn't exist as a business in Washington DC.
"Square 516S Office Venture LLC," the organization GSA sends rent payments to, does.
What's the total damage?
From 2010 to 2016, American Bridge 21st Century has sent $1,019,917 in potentially fraudulent rent payments to Square 516 Office Venture, a company that doesn't own the building, nor exist as a business in Washington DC.
This doesn't look good for American Bridge
- American Bridge makes rent payments to a company that does not own the building they operate out of.
- In fact, Square 516 Office Venture LLC doesn't even exist as a company in Washington DC.
- American Bridge sends rent payments to a different address than GSA does - an organization that operates out of the same building.
- This, despite the fact that GSA has had to change the address they make rent payable to three times.
However, we find it to be unlikely that this is an innocent accounting error. Why would GSA be required to change rent payment addresses 3 separate times, yet American Bridge gets to keep the same address? Why omit the 'S' for 6 years running?
It's also worth noting that American Bridge makes rent payments to Media Matters for America. So why would they need to pay the building owner in the first place?
Speaking of, earlier this week, we uncovered massive discrepancies surrounding Media Matters and their failure to report rental income. And there's still more to come.
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