On August 18, 2016, Akram Ahmad of Bridgeport, Connecticut, was arraigned in Lake Pleasant Justice Court, Lake Pleasant, New York, based on an indictment filed in Hamilton County, New York, on July 28, 2016. He was charged with forgery, possession of a forged instrument, and offering a false instrument for filing. 

 

The NYSDOT bridge inspection program receives Federal funding through FHWA. The charges stem from Ahmad’s role in the alleged falsification of a Hamilton County bridge inspection report in December 2013. Ahmad was an employee of an engineering firm that subcontracted to conduct bridge inspections for NYSDOT. Ahmad purportedly conducted an inspection of the Gilmantown Road Bridge in December 2013. The same bridge had been previously inspected in 2012 and found to have various defects. The deficiencies in the 2012 inspection report were repaired in September 2013. However, Ahmad’s subsequent inspection report of the same bridge in December 2013 noted the same deficiencies and used much of the same language from the 2012 report. NYSDOT performed an inspection in early 2014 and found that the repairs to the bridge had indeed been made.

 

DOT-OIG is conducting this investigation jointly with the New York State-OIG with assistance from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department.

 

Note: Indictments, informations, and criminal complaints are only accusations by the Government. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.