Summary

On April 21, Wilhelm DerMinassian, former Associate Director of the DC Department of Transportation (DC-DOT) Traffic Services Administration, pled guilty in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C to wire fraud and receiving gratuities in connection with subverting the competitive process on federally-funded contracts. The guilty plea stems from charges filed on April 11, 2005 against DerMinassian and Dunn Engineering and Associates, P.C. (Dunn), Westhampton, NY. A Dunn official paid over $1,000 in hotel charges on behalf of DerMinassian while he was on official Government travel in return for favorable treatment on a five-year $17.5 million Integrated Traffic Management System contract that Dunn held with DC-DOT. DerMinassian also solicited and received about $20,000 in cash and other items of value from another contractor in connection with his administration of a $12.9 million Operational Support contract. Sentencing for DerMinassian is scheduled for June 15, 2005. This investigation is being conducted jointly with the DOJ (Antitrust Division) and the FBI.