A house that was completely destroyed by Hurricane Maria stands abandoned in Puerto Rico. Neighbors don't know where its owners went. (Photo: Shutterstock.com)

A competing construction firm has filed a novel racketeering lawsuit in Miami accusing another firm of stealing its profits by paying bribes to get $1.8 billion worth of government contracts in post-hurricane Puerto Rico.

The case could pave the way for similar racketeering suits by other companies against their competitors over criminal behavior.

MasTec Renewables Puerto Rico, a subsidiary of Miami-based MasTec Inc., sued Mammoth Energy Services Inc. and its Puerto Rican subsidiary, Cobra Acquisitions, on Jan. 21 in U.S. District Court in Miami. Mammoth is based in Oklahoma City.

MasTec, which is run by the family of the late Miami political powerbroker Jorge Mas, is relying on federal bribery charges brought last September against Cobra's former president. Donald Keith Ellison. Also indicted were Ahsha Tribble, the Federal Emergency Management Administration's regional administrator, and a friend of Tribble's who was hired by Ellison.

The trio was indicted on a total of 15 counts of fraud, bribery and other charges related to the Puerto Rican contracts. Their trial is scheduled for January 2021 in U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico.

The MasTec suit states that the restoration of power to the island was delayed because Tribble allegedly accepted bribes from Ellison to direct the work to Cobra, a company that was incorporated only two days before the first contract was assigned to it.

Cobra "had virtually no experience with large scale electric infrastructure restoration, disaster cleanup, or emergency response," the suit states. "Inexplicably, Cobra was selected over MasTec—a renowned and well-respected complex infrastructure contractor with more than fifty years of relevant experience—to perform all emergency electrical work funded by FEMA in the immediate aftermath of the storm."

Another $500 million contract was awarded to MasTec, but that work was diverted to Cobra as well. So MasTec lost not only the $500 million from the contract but also money spent on "a massive mobilization effort, incurring millions of dollars of costs, to position itself to immediately assist the ravaged island in desperate need of repair," the suit says.

Besides violations of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the MasTec suit alleges tortious interference by Cobra.

David Orta, of the Washington, D.C., office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, is representing Mammoth and Cobra in the suit. Orta did not immediately return messages Friday seeking comment.

Benjamin Widlanski, of the Coral Gables law firm Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, is representing MasTec. He declined to comment.

"RICO cases are rare, and none I've seen have facts like this," said Houston attorney Ryan McConnell, a former federal prosecutor who founded the R. McConnell Group, which focuses on white-collar crime and compliance cases. "I think it's innovative, and if successful, could pave the way for more of these types of 'victim' cases against companies" involved in crimes.

McConnell, who occasionally writes a column for Corporate Counsel, said general counsel should "include these lawsuits as a risk [related to] potential criminal cases, including the monetary costs and business disruptions that accompany additional litigation."

He added, "One could imagine all sorts of fact patterns where the legal theory could apply involving different types of criminal conduct."

Racketeering charges, while rare, have been involved in other suits against companies. Last November General Motors Co. filed a federal racketeering suit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, alleging a conspiracy to bribe union officials to GM's detriment.

In 2018 State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. agreed to pay $250 million to settle a racketeering suit that accused the company and one of its in-house counsel of manipulating the election of an Illinois Supreme Court justice in order to overturn a previous verdict against State Farm.

Alcoa Inc. agreed to pay $85 million in 2012 to settle a bribe-related racketeering suit brought by competitor Aluminium Bahrain BSC, owned by the Bahraini government.