Summary

On June 6, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio, developers David and Sheri Oakes, along with former business partner Sherif Aziz, dba TesTech, Inc., agreed to pay $2,883,947, to resolve allegations that they falsely claimed disadvantaged business status (DBE) on federally funded transportation projects. 

The investigation revealed that David and Sheri Oakes were the actual owners of TesTech, Inc., even though Aziz represented himself as the owner and president on paper in order to convince the federal government that TesTech, Inc., was eligible for special federal contracting preference under the U.S. Department of Transportation's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program. 

We conducted this investigation with the U.S. Attorney's Office, Columbus, Ohio, and the Ohio Department of Transportation.