NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
A Tennessee Department of Transportation contractor has agreed to forfeit more than $500,000 in assets derived from an embezzlement scheme, according to the U.S. District Attorney's office.
Prosecutors said Michael Wayne Young, 53, of Fairview, TN, is the president of Capitol Consultants, Inc., and is a TDOT consultant/contractor for the department's right-of-way division, and was responsible for purchasing real property for TDOT.
According to the U.S. attorney's office, the embezzlement was discovered in early 2012 when auditors working for TDOT began examining aging right-of-way projects, specifically the purchase of properties which should have been closed years earlier but were not.
TDOT auditors told investigators they had discovered nine parcels of property for which TDOT had provided funds to Capitol for the sole purchase of buying the properties and for which the closings were still pending. The state of Tennessee's check for each of these properties had been negotiated, prosecutors said, however the real estate closings had not yet occurred, and the properties had not been deeded to the state of Tennessee.
Auditors told investigators they had determined the total amount of funds paid by TDOT to Capitol for the acquisition of the nine parcels was approximately $318,781. Auditors sought a complete accounting from Capitol of all right-of-way projects and determined that Capitol had received checks for the purchase of an additional 45 parcels of property that have yet to be closed.
During a meeting with TDOT's internal audit division on Aug. 30, prosecutors said Young admitted to embezzling funds intended for the acquisition of real property for TDOT and converting them to his own use.
Prosecutors said Young has entered into a settlement agreement and mutual release with the U.S. in his personal capacity and in his capacity as owner of Capitol Consultants, Inc. in which he has admitted misappropriating funds from the state of Tennessee's right-of-way program in an amount exceeding $500,000 and has agreed that certain bank accounts and real property are subject to restoration to the state of Tennessee and forfeitable to the U.S.
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