Two Walnut Creek Residents Charged With Defrauding Caltrans

Two Walnut Creek residents were indicted on charges of bribing a California Department of Transportation official with money, a Persian rug and a cell phone in exchange for contracts that resulted in the agency losing more than $1 million.

The U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI on Thursday jointly announced that federal grand jury indictments had been issued against Siavash "Mike" Poursartip, 56, and Sara Shirazi, 52, who both operated a company called Infotek Associates.  Also indicted was Clint Gregory, 48, of Sacramento, a senior Transportation Engineer Supervisor for Caltrans District 10 in Stockton. All three were charged with bribery, bid rigging and fraud. 

In a statement, U.S Attorney Benjamin Wagner and FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Drew Parenti said that Poursartip and Shirazi offered, and Gregory accepted, bribes in exchange for being awarded Calrans contracts valued at less than $130,000.  Gregory deposited the bribe payments into bank accounts held in the names of business entities he controlled, authorities said.

The indictment also said that the three circumvented Caltrans' competitive bidding process, which requires bids from at least two certified vendors, and arranged for third-party companies to submit straw bids for contracts, on which Poursatip and Shirazi's Infotek was bidding.

The three then set the bid amount of the straw bids, and Infotek's bids, to predetermine the "winners." The straw companies, which performed no work, were paid a commission for their assistance, and this arrangement was not disclosed to Caltrans. 

Poursartip also is accused of submitting false and misleading invoices to Caltrans regarding the work that Infotek and the straw companies performed, and Gregory approved payment of these invoices. According to the indictment, Gregory on one occasion asked Infotek to provide him with a fictitious invoice to conceal an unauthorized purchase of airplane parts he made using a Caltrans credit card. Shirazi prepared the invoice that Gregory submitted for reimbursement. 

All three, if convicted, face 35 years in prison. 

Infotek describes itself as a software and communications company based in Oakland. An October 2008 news release notes that Infotek's public-private partnership demonstration with Caltrans, in using a device to monitor commercial truck traffic in the Los Angeles area, had received national notice for innovation. Poursatip was listed as the company's founder and CEO and as an applied engineering expert who holds several patents and who had previously worked in the aerospace and defense industries.