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New York City Construction Management Company Principals Plead Guilty and Agree To Forfeit $3 Million
On May 13, 2019, Husam Ahmad—chief executive officer of HAKS Engineers, Architects, & Land Surveyors, DPC (HAKS) and part-owner of SIMCO Engineering, P.C. (SIMCO)—pleaded guilty in New York City Supreme Court to one count of first degree bribery. Shahid Akhtar, chief financial officer at HAKS, pleaded guilty to two counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree. Separately, HAKS entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the New York County District Attorney’s Office (DANY), which required the company to forfeit $3 million and employ an integrity monitor on an ongoing basis, as well as the separation and divestiture of Ahmad and Akhtar, respectively.
On April 18, 2018, DANY announced the indictments of the aforementioned individuals and companies after a joint DANY–DOT-OIG investigation found that corruption and fraud was impacting the reconstruction of the Kosciuszko Bridge—funded by FHWA through NYSDOT—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—HAKS, SIMCO, and others—and their executive officers during the procurement and bidding process, giving them a competitive edge over other bidders. In return, Madu 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.
DOT-OIG is conducting this investigation with the DANY Construction Fraud Task Force.