Five Michigan men have been sentenced to federal prison for defrauding the United States Department of Transportation of millions of dollars.
Andrew Semenchuk, 53, of Rives Junction, and Jeffrey Bartlett, 53, of Standish, were each sentenced to 15 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.
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Adam Ball, 48, of Saginaw, and Brian Bartlett, 48, of Standish, received sentences of one year and one day in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.
Anthony Thelen, 48, of Pewamo, was sentenced to six months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release.
All five men were executives of Standish-based Surveying Solutions, Inc., a company that was awarded millions of dollars in highway construction contracts by the Michigan Department of Transportation.
According to authorities, from approximately February 2011 through July 2019, the men owned and operated Surveying Solutions, Inc., which received contracts funded almost entirely by federal funds through the U.S. Department of Transportation.
During their work on these contracts, the defendants engaged in a fraudulent overbilling scheme that caused MDOT to make millions of dollars in overpayments to Surveying Solutions, Inc.
A large portion of these funds was distributed among themselves.
The fraudulent overbilling included reporting false and non-existent employee and information technology costs, claiming inflated equipment and real property lease costs, and concealing the true ownership and control of the company to justify the fraudulent charges.
The five men will pay a total of $4,571,800 in full restitution to the Michigan Department of Transportation. The court also ordered them to pay forfeitures totaling $4,073,200.