Investigations

On March 17, 2017, Akram Ahmad of Bridgeport, Connecticut, was convicted by a jury in Lake Pleasant Justice Court, Lake Pleasant, New York, on one charge of offering a false instrument with fraudulent intent.

 

The conviction stems from Ahmad’s role in the falsification of a Hamilton County bridge inspection report in December 2013. Ahmad was an employee of an engineering firm that was contracted to conduct bridge inspections for the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), a program that receives Federal funding through FHWA. Ahmad purportedly conducted an inspection of the Gilmantown Road Bridge in December 2013. The bridge had been inspected in 2012 and found to have various defects, which were repaired in September 2013. However, Ahmad’s December 2013 inspection report noted the same deficiencies and language used in the 2012 report. NYSDOT performed an inspection in early 2014 and found that the repairs to the bridge had indeed been made.

 

DOT-OIG is conducting this investigation jointly with the New York State-OIG, with assistance from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department.