Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority Project Superintendent Indicted on Charges of Extortion, Fraud, Bribery, and False Statements

William J. Edwards, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and C. Frank Figliuzzi, Special Agent in Charge of the Cleveland Division of the FBI, today announced that an Indictment was unsealed charging Faisal M. Alatrash, 48, of Westlake, Ohio, with one count Conspiracy to Commit Bribery in Federally Funded Programs; four counts of Bribery in Federally Funded Programs; four counts of Extortion Under Color of Official Right; three counts of Mail Fraud; six counts of Honest Services Mail Fraud, and one count of False Statements. Faisal M. Alatrash’s wife, Gada A. Alatrash, 39, also of Westlake, Ohio, was also charged with one count of False Statements.

The Indictment states that Faisal Alatrash, a Project Superintendent/Construction Manager for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (“RTA”), supervised contracts and repairs for RTA facilities.

The Indictment alleges that between July 2002, and December 2008, Faisal Alatrash demanded and received cash payments and other things of value, including home renovations, from five different RTA contractors on six different RTA projects he supervised.

The Indictment further alleges that Alatrash deprived the RTA and the citizens of Cleveland, its suburbs, and Cuyahoga County of his honest services by soliciting business for, and payments to, a cleaning company established in the name of his wife, Gada A. Alatrash, from an RTA contractor who was conducting business with the RTA to which Alatrash was assigned and by requesting the contractor to perform repair and renovation work without reimbursement on the personal residence of Faisal Alatrash and Gada Alatrash. The Indictment alleges that Alatrash caused the cleaning business to continue submitting additional invoices to the RTA contractor when he was awarded work at additional RTA job sites.

The Indictment also alleges that Faisal Alatrash caused contractors to submit invoices to RTA with inflated costs. When RTA paid the invoices, Alatrash required the contractors to pay him a significant portion of the overage in the form of a cash payment or “kickback.”

Finally, the Indictment alleges that both Faisal Alatrash and Gada Alatrash made false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cleveland Division, during the course of its investigation.

If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal records, if any, the defendants’ roles in the offenses and the characteristics of the violations. In all cases, the sentences will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases they will be less than the maximum.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin J. Roberts, following investigation by the Cleveland office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in cooperation with the RTA.

An Indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.