Owner of Connecticut Engineering Company Gets 33 Months Prison Time for Major Fraud on Multi-State Bridge Projects

Office of Inspector General

Title:	Owner of Connecticut Engineering Company Gets 33 Months Prison Time for Major Fraud on Multi-State Bridge Projects
Date:	February 08, 2005
Type:	Investigation
Summary:	Frank S. Chuang, of Wethersfield, CT, President and owner of L-C Associates, Inc., Rocky Hills, CT, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in New Haven, CT to 33 months in jail for contract fraud and tax evasion. Chuang pled guilty in September 2003 to submitting false invoice claims for bridge inspection and design engineering services on multiple federally-funded highway projects in CT, NY, MA, and RI. The fraud schemes involved billing for work not performed and inflating overhead rates. Chuang has paid a total of $8.76 million pursuant to both civil and criminal settlement agreements, agreed to divest ownership interest and control over L-C Associates, Inc., and be permanently debarred from work on federal contracts. Chuang also pled guilty to tax evasion charges. DOT OIG conducted this investigation with assistance from FHWA, CT DOT, IRS-CID, and FBI.