Indictment against fugitive Frenchman accused of massive cheating on the Big Dig dismissed

C’est la vie apparently.

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday dismissed an indictment filed 24 years ago against a French citizen who allegedly rigged bridge cable tenders. Big Digsays the former construction manager remained on the run for more than two decades.

The office of Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy confirmed in a brief filing in U.S. District Court in Boston that the indictment against Jean Pierre Cagnat, the former president of the French construction firm Freyssinet, has been dismissed.

Levy dismissed “the indictment in this matter charging Jean Pierre Cagnat with conspiracy to rig bids and distribute contracts” in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

“In support of this dismissal, the government notes that French national Jean Pierre Cagnat has been a fugitive since the date the indictment was returned on August 3, 2000, and that dismissal is in the interests of justice.”

In 2000, the Department of Justice alleged that Cagnat was involved in the scheme between September 1996 and December 1997. He allegedly agreed to participate in the conspiracy at a meeting with his co-conspirators in London, authorities said.

“They carried out the conspiracy by exchanging pricing information for future cable system tenders and submitting uncompetitive, fraudulent bids for the projects,” the Justice Department said in announcing the charges. “Freyssinet was awarded the contract to construct the stay cable for the Charles River bridge, which is part of the Boston Central Artery Project. ‘The Big Dig.’”

This was the second time prosecutors moved to dismiss Cagnat’s indictment.

In February 2021, prosecutors used nearly identical language to drop the charges, arguing that Cagnat had long been a fugitive.

But a new judge was appointed to the case in October, records show.

It was not immediately clear what happened between the first and second dismissals. Levy’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Big Dig One something importantThe megaproject that once divided downtown Boston and buried the Ted Williams Tunnel, the Zakim Bridge, the Rose Kennedy Greenway, and the elevated highway that formed the Seaport District.

It was an engineering marvel, but it also destroyed the city in the ’90s and early 2000s and went billions of dollars over budget. The price tag for America’s most expensive highway project has officially been collected $14.8 billion.

This report used material from previous Globe stories. This breaking news will be updated as more information is released.

Travis Andersen can be reached at [email protected].