Michigan company execs sentenced to prison for scheme to defraud USDOT through fraudulent overbilling

Five former executives for a Michigan surveying company were sentenced to federal prison for a scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).

On November 18, 2025, Andrew Semenchuk, 53, and Jeffrey Bartlett, 53, were sentenced to 15 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States.

On November 20, 2025,  Adam Ball, 48, and Brian Bartlett, 48, were sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison following their guilty pleas to conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Also on November 20, 2025, Anthony Thelen, 48, was sentenced to 6 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States.

The five defendants must also pay a total of $4,571,800 in full restitution to the Michigan Department of Transportation as well as forfeitures in the total amount of $4,073,200, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Officials say that between February 2011 and July 2019, Andrew Semenchuk, Jeffrey Bartlett, Adam Ball, Brian Bartlett, and Anthony Thelen, owned and operated Standish-based Surveying Solutions Inc. (SSI), a surveying company that was awarded millions of dollars in highway construction contracts by MDOT.

The contracts were funded largely by USDOT.

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office:

“In the course of seeking and participating in MDOT contracts, the defendants engaged in fraudulent overbilling scheme resulting in MDOT making millions of dollars of overpayments to SSI, a large portion of which the defendants distributed among themselves. The fraudulent overbilling included reporting false and non-existent employee and information technology costs, claiming improper and inflated equipment and real property lease costs, and concealing the true ownership of and control over the SSI entities to justify the fraudulent overbillings.”

“FBI Detroit will rigorously safeguard the integrity of government programs and hold accountable those who betray the public’s trust by exploiting the competitive contracting process for personal financial gain,” said Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. “These kinds of manipulative schemes defraud not only government programs but Michiganders’ tax dollars as well and place honest, rule-abiding Michigan businesses at an unfair disadvantage. My team at the FBI Bay City Resident Agency, along with our federal law enforcement partners, conducted a meticulous and thorough investigation to uncover this complex financial crime and ultimately ensured justice was served. I am grateful for the partnership and successful prosecutorial work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan in securing this sentencing.”

“For nearly a decade, the defendants carried out a scheme that compromised the integrity of transportation projects in Michigan and betrayed the taxpayers who funded them,” said Anthony Licari, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Midwestern Region. “The sentences imposed send an unmistakable message that we will not waver in our commitment to working with our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners to expose corruption and ensure that those who break the law are brought to justice.”

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General.d