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Investigations

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Twenty-One Individuals and Companies Indicted in New York Corruption and Fraud Scheme

On April 18, 2018, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, New York (DANY), announced a series of indictments against Husam Ahmad, Shahid Akhtar, Betty Campbell, Joyce Madu, Shelly Mohan, Muhammad Siddiqui, Muhammad Haque, Ifeanyi Madu, Henry Chluspa, Syed Haider, Walter Gross, Kyriacos Pierides, D&B Engineers and Architects (D&B), Haider Engineering, CIMC Associates LLC (CIMC), HAKS Engineers, Architects, & Land Surveyors, DPC (HAKS), SIMCO Engineering PC (SIMCO), MCMS Associates LLC, JCMS Associates LLC (JCMS), JCMS Associates of NYC LLC (JCMS NYC), and MCC General Office Services LLC (MCC). The defendants were charged with corrupting the Government, bribery, bribe receiving, offering false instruments, and engaging in a scheme to defraud. 

The indictments are related to a corruption and fraud investigation that impacts the reconstruction of the Kosciuszko Bridge—work funded by the Federal Highway Administration through the New York State (NYS) Department of Transportation—as well as various NYS Metropolitan Transportation Authority subway system projects funded by the Federal Transit Administration. 

Between 2007 and 2016, Ifeanyi Madu, a former manager at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, allegedly leaked confidential information about city contracts to certain companies and their executive officers during the procurement and bidding process, giving them a competitive edge over other bidders. Madu allegedly passed confidential information to HAKS, SIMCO, and others. In return, he was rewarded with extravagant meals, gifts, hotel stays, Broadway show tickets, employment opportunities for relatives, charitable donations to organizations he managed, and more than $7.5 million in subcontracts to companies owned or operated by his friends or members of his family, including CIMC, JCMS, JCMS NYC, and MCC. Chluspa, Haider, Gross, Pierides, D&B, and Haider Engineering were charged with conferring upon bribes upon a public official.

The indictments also allege that Husam Ahmad, chief executive officer of HAKS, sought to obtain public contracts by gaining control of SIMCO, which was certified to participate in the Federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and State Minority/Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) programs. Ahmad allegedly acquired a 45-percent stake in SIMCO but could not claim personal ownership of more than 50 percent without compromising the company’s DBE and MWBE status. He sought to acquire full control of SIMCO by supplying funds to a former HAKS employee, Muhammad Siddiqui, so that Siddiqui could purchase the remaining 55-percent stake. By falsely maintaining the company’s DBE status, SIMCO obtained over $10 million in public contracts that it was not eligible to receive.

Update: In 2019, the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, dismissed the indictment against Muhammad Haque. On February 5, 2020, the court dismissed the indictment against Kyriacos Pierides. On May 13, 2022, the court dismissed the indictment against CIMC Associates LLC, JCMS Associates LLC, JCMS Associates of NY LLC, and MCMS Associates LLC.

DOT-OIG is conducting this investigation with the DANY Construction Fraud Task Force. 

Note: Indictments, informations, and criminal complaints are only accusations by the Government. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.