Investigations

On January 12, 2018, Jenna Wilson, former vice president of K&L construction, Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Sioux City, Iowa, to 24 months of supervised release and fined $34,432.02 for her role in defrauding the Iowa Department of Transportation (IA-DOT) on a federally funded highway project. Wilson previously pleaded guilty to making false statements about a highway project in August 2017.

 

The investigation was based on a joint referral from the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Iowa Division and IA-DOT relating to a construction contract for a $16 million, FHWA-funded reconstruction of the I-29 Sioux Interchange Project, on which K & L Construction was a subcontractor.

 

Wilson admitted that between January 2016 and July 2016 she submitted falsified invoices for stockpiled materials on the interchange project to increase the cost. These altered invoices were submitted to IA-DOT for reimbursement. In total, Wilson fraudulently increased the amounts of valid supplier invoices by $807,637.10. The fraudulent actions led to an interest-free loan of $34,432.02 to K&L Construction