The Parsons Corp

Parsons Corp., a global provider of engineering and construction services that specializes in helping strife-torn nations rebuild, itself had to quickly regroup Wednesday after learning that its top executive, Leonard J. Pieroni, was among those presumed dead in the crash of an Air Force plane in the Balkans. Pieroni, 57, was among several executives traveling with U.S. Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown when their airplane crashed on a hillside in Croatia, the company said.

Landmark Entertainment, one of the leading independent theme park design firms, has joined forces with engineering services giant Parsons Corp. to offer design and construction services for theme parks, resorts and location-based entertainment complexes, according to an announcement made Monday.

The U.S. government paid Parsons Corp., a Pasadena-based contractor, $142 million to build prisons, fire stations and police facilities in Iraq that it never built or finished, according to audits by a watchdog office. The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction said Parsons completed about one-third of its projects, which also included courthouses and border control stations. The inspector general's office is expected to release two detailed audits today evaluating Parsons' work.

A half-completed prison in Iraq that cost $40 million marked the biggest reconstruction failure identified to date by a U.S. government watchdog, which on Monday laid responsibility for the project with a Pasadena contractor. The company, Parsons Corp., said the project was too dangerous to finish.

Parsons Corp., the top U.S. construction contractor in Iraq, could be barred from government work if the company doesn't show it has stringent safeguards against committing fraud and abuse, the Army said. Robert Kittel, the Army official in charge of contractor suspensions and debarments, sent a "show cause" letter to Parsons Chief Executive James McNulty demanding information in 10 categories of company management. The U.S.

Parsons Corp., the Pasadena engineering firm that won one of the largest rebuilding contracts in postwar Iraq, fell dramatically short of a number of goals, according to interviews and documents that cite shoddy work and negligent government oversight. The firm was to have rebuilt Iraq's health and security infrastructure. However, an audit and interviews show it will finish only 20 of 150 planned health clinics, and nearly $70 million of medical equipment meant for the clinics sits unused.