Acranom Masonry removed from state contractor list — more than a year after its principals pleaded guilty in Diamantis bribery case, weeks after Courant column.

Acranom Masonry was removed from the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) after a newspaper column prompted an inquiry by Senate Republicans. The newspaper column appeared in The Hartford Courant on August 23rd and revealed that despite Acranom remained on the state’s list of approved contracts more than a year after its principals, Salvatore Monarca and John Duffy, entered guilty pleas to charges bribing Kostantinos Diamantis, the head of the state’s school construction finance program.

Acranom (Monarca spelled backwards) was awarded a contract by the Department of Transportation to perform work on Rocky Hill project. The column pointing out that the guilty pleas by Monarca and Duffy required DAS to remove the company from its list of approved contractors. DAS disagreed because the two defendants in the bribery scandal were no longer principals. Senate Republicans raised concerns in a letter questioning the DAS interpretation of the statute regarding bad actors and state contractors. The letter from Senate Republicans caused DAS to reconsider its position. It has removed Acranom.

The crimes to which Monarca and Duffy were convicted were committed during some of the time the school construction program was part of DAS.

Published October 8, 2025.