Investigations

On June 29, Nabih E. Bedewi, a former George Washington University (GWU) engineering professor and director of the DOT-funded National Crash Analysis Center (NCAC) in Ashburn, VA was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Washington, DC to serve 38 months in prison. Bedewi was also ordered to pay $872,221 in restitution and forfeit his $2.29 million home in McLean, VA. On April 13, Bedewi pled guilty to a felony theft charge, admitting to embezzling approximately $992,000 between April 2000 and July 2004. Bedewi oversaw several cooperative agreements between GWU and FHWA, and used bogus invoices, illegal stipends, and inflated or fictitious expenses whereby NCAC paid fraudulent charges to entities which he or his wife either owned or controlled. In a separate civil settlement effective in April, GWU agreed to either reimburse the government more than $1.8 million. This joint investigation with the FBI is ongoing, assisted by DCAA and FHWA.