Investigations

On January 30, 2019, Shelly Mohan, a former employee at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), was sentenced in New York State Supreme Court to 3 years’ probation and $250 in court costs. On December 4, 2018, Mohan pleaded guilty to offering a false instrument for filing in the second degree.

 

On May 11, 2018, Betty Campbell, the mother-in-law of Ifeanyi Madu, a former DEP manager, pleaded guilty in the same court to one count of corrupting the government in the fourth degree. She was sentenced to a 3-year conditional discharge and $375 in court costs.

 

On April 18, 2018, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (DANY) announced indictments of Mohan, Campbell, Madu, and others following a wide-scale investigation into corruption and fraud connected to projects funded by DOT. Specifically, the investigation examined the Kosciuszko Bridge Reconstruction Project funded by the Federal Highway Administration and various subway projects funded by the Federal Transit Administration through the New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The defendants allegedly participated in schemes involving bribery; fraud related to Disadvantaged, Minority, and Women-Owned Business Enterprise programs; and illegal campaign contributions from construction companies and high-level executives.

 

Madu acknowledged that he leaked confidential information for city contracts to certain companies and their executive officers during the procurement and bidding process, which gave them a competitive edge over other bidders. He passed the confidential information to various construction management companies, including HAKS Engineers, Architects, & Land Surveyors D.P.C., and SIMCO Engineering, P.C. In return, he was rewarded with extravagant meals, gifts, hotel stays, Broadway Show tickets, and the award of more than $7.5 million in subcontracts to companies owned or operated by members of his family or close friends, including MCC General Office Services, LLC, which listed Campbell as owner, and MCMS Associates LLC, which was controlled by Mohan.

 

DOT-OIG conducted this investigation with DANY’s Construction Fraud Task Force.