Two insurance firms are in violation of state conflict-of-interest rules and public contracting laws designed to prevent corruption and safeguard funds, according to a report from the Office of the State Comptroller, released Tuesday.

The office found that the firms Conner Strong & Buckelew and PERMA improperly gained control over public entities’ contracting processes, influencing how multimillion-dollar contracts are written, awarded and priced, according to the report.

"They present themselves as separate and independent companies, but OSC found that CSB and PERMA are effectively the same business operating under two names," the report states. "Their employees overlap, they share leadership, and the same people work on both sides of the contracts. In many cases, CSB and PERMA help wri

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