Insider texts raise questions of conflicts, favoritism, and nearly $1B in lost public revenue

The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance today called for an immediate investigation and independent review following shocking revelations about the 35-year contract MassDOT awarded to Ireland-based Applegreen to redevelop Massachusetts’s highway service plazas.

Newly released text messages appear to show inappropriate communications between MassDOT’s Chief Development Officer, Scott Bosworth, and Suffolk Construction owner John Fish, whose company is poised to profit hundreds of millions of dollars from the deal. This comes despite Applegreen’s bid being nearly $900 million less than Massachusetts-based Global Partners, the leading financial bidder.

“This is exactly the kind of insider backroom dealing that destroys public trust. A Massachusetts company offered to pay nearly a billion dollars more, but Beacon Hill insiders still handed the contract to a foreign corporation backed by Wall Street private equity. Taxpayers deserve to know why and now we’re learning there may have been serious violations of the RFP from the start,” said Paul Diego Craney, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.

According to reports, Suffolk Construction stands to reap a massive payday as Applegreen’s contractor, while local company Global Partners and its hundreds of Massachusetts employees, vendors, and business partners were sidelined. Texts reveal Bosworth referring to Fish as a “true friend” during the procurement process, raising serious questions about potential conflicts of interest, violations of procurement rules, and whether the process was ever fair from the start.

“This is not just about which brand of coffee gets served on the Pike. This is about whether public infrastructure contracts are awarded on merit or handed out to politically connected insiders at the expense of taxpayers,” said Craney.

The Alliance is urging the Inspector General, State Auditor, and the Legislature to immediately investigate the bidding process before the MassDOT board finalizes the Applegreen contract.

“Massachusetts taxpayers were short-changed by nearly a billion dollars. Before this deal is signed, the public deserves to know what their reasoning was and have full transparency, accountability, and a guarantee that the Commonwealth isn’t being sold out by political insiders,” closed Craney.