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On February 16, 2023, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Oklahoma entered into a civil settlement agreement with Interstate Helicopters, Inc. Interstate agreed to pay $155,000 to settle civil penalty claims arising from allegations that the company conducted unauthorized air charter operations involving fixed-wing aircraft.

 

This settlement agreement is neither an admission of liability by Interstate nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded.

 

On August 28, 2023, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota and the Minnesota Attorney General's Office entered into a civil settlement agreement with Dow Chemical Co., in which Dow agreed to pay a total of $456,665.42 to resolve alleged civil violations of the False Claims Act. According to the settlement agreement, between 2012 and 2015, Dow's former subsidiary, Poly Carb, Inc., provided multi-component enamel paint products for several Federal- and State funded construction projects throughout the State of Minnesota.

Aviation safety—the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) top priority—includes oversight of commercial passenger carriers’ safety programs. According to FAA regulations, each airline must establish and maintain a safety management system—a formal, top-down focus on managing safety risks. Using this approach, FAA and air carriers identify hazards and implement corrective actions that mitigate risk. For example, air carriers must identify root causes for hazards and proactively manage risk to prevent accidents.

On August 29, 2023, F. Allied Construction Company, Inc. (Allied), an asphalt paving company, and Andrew Foster, President of Allied, pleaded guilty in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. On August 17, Kevin Shell, Vice President of Estimating at Allied, also pleaded guilty in the same court to violating the Sherman Antitrust Act.

 

On August 22, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio filed a criminal complaint charging Lorie A. Schaefer and Latisha C. Holloway with wire fraud related to loans for $1,893,333 and $980,833, respectively. Schaefer and Holloway obtained the loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a provision of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stimulus Act. Schaefer and Holloway were arrested on August 25, 2023, and August 30, 2023, respectively.

 

On August 17, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts sentenced Estevao Semedo, owner of a local driving school, to 6 months in prison, 1 year of supervised release, with the first 6 months to be served under home confinement, forfeiture of $17,000, and a $100 special assessment.

 

On August 17, 2023, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) suspended Melo’s Rodbusters, Inc., from participating in all federally funded procurement and non-procurement programs.