Investigations

On March 15, 2021, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) debarred Nathaniel Lorenz, ACME Powerwashing Inc. (ACME), and SE Brett Inc. (SEB) from participating in Federal procurement and non-procurement transactions for a period of 3 years. On May 2, 2019, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, Lorenz, owner of ACME and SEB, was sentenced to 18 months of incarceration and $600,000 in restitution. Lorenz was convicted by jury for his role in a scheme to submit fraudulent invoices to the New York State (NYS) Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to conceal the fact that he had not bought the materials needed to fulfill contracts mostly funded by FHWA.

 

DOT-OIG conducted this investigation with NYS-OIG and the NYSDOT Investigations Bureau, with assistance from FHWA.