Investigations

On August 2, 2018, FHWA suspended Nicholas Martino, former PennDOT Assistant District Executive, from participation in Federal procurement and non-procurement programs. On June 4, a State criminal complaint filed in Montgomery County Magisterial District Court, Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, charged Martino with one felony count of accepting improper influence under the Pennsylvania Public Official and Employee Ethics Act. Martino allegedly played a role in a corruption and bribery scheme that affected 27 federally funded maintenance and construction contracts in Pennsylvania.

 

Martino allegedly took monetary kickbacks from a PennDOT contractor over several years in exchange for ignoring the fact that the contractor did not perform contractually required work. Martino also allegedly helped fire a project inspector who refused to state that the same contractor had performed the work.

 

These charges are part of a long-running investigation into allegations of corruption at PennDOT District 6 where 13 other individuals have admitted to a variety of criminal charges including fraud, bribery, kickbacks and bid-rigging.

 

DOT-OIG is conducting his investigation with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigations.