ACP Pubs

Joanne Ray

Rhode Island DOT Investigation
March 18, 2008

Providence, RI:  As reported in The Providence Journal, before closing out their investigation of operations at the state Department of Transportation, the state police say they looked into DOT Director Jerome Williams’ concerns that a major highway contractor may have shorted the state on rustproofing material — specifically, molten zinc — it was supposed to apply to the metal on the newly opened Iway bridge.They questioned the former state auditor who raised unheeded warning flags in 2003 about altered payroll reports in which DOT’s name was allegedly written in over the “whited-out” — but still easily read — name of another client of a prominent engineering firm.They explored the circumstances under which a relative of the chief engineer at the state road-building agency got a $9-million contract to do the kind of work that neighboring states say they leave to their in-house staff. In the end, the state police decided the statute of limitations had already run out on the alleged crime the DOT auditor detected in 2003 — “obtaining money under false pretenses.”

Posted by Joanne Ray on March 18, 2008 | Comments (0)