BALTIMORE — The Maryland State Highway Administration is facing intense criticism after a state audit revealed the agency knowingly charged expenses to the federal government without proper authorization, potentially leaving Maryland taxpayers responsible for $358 million in already spent funds according to an audit.
According to the Department of Legislative Services audit, the unauthorized payments occurred from November 2020 to October 2024. The investigation began after a tip to the fraud, waste and abuse hotline noted a "rapid increase in federal funds receivable balance in recent years."
While the Department of Legislative Services does not believe the incident requires referral to the Attorney General's Office, it does recommend the Highway Administration take corrective action.
WATCH: MD highway agency faces scrutiny over $358M in unauthorized federal charges
Delegate Ryan Nawrocki disagrees with that assessment and is calling for criminal charges.
"I think that there needs to be a criminal investigation here, not only by the Attorney General here in Maryland, but by the Department of Justice federally because we're talking about federal dollars here. These people need to be held criminally responsible for this," said Nawrocki.
The Maryland State Highway Administration released a statement defending its actions.
"The Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) is actively working with our federal partners to review expenses for eligibility and seeking full recovery for all eligible expenses on our federal aid projects. SHA has not purposefully miscoded or mischarged expenditures as federal funds, as federal reimbursement remains possible and is being pursued," the agency said.
The SHA added that it followed federal accounting practices.
Nawrocki expressed concern that the audit could jeopardize other federal funding projects in Maryland.
"If I'm in the federal Department of Transportation right now, and I'm seeing that $360 million has been knowingly defrauded from the federal government, why would we continue to fund projects here in Maryland like the Red Line? The Key Bridge project? We're talking about high ticket items that are potentially in jeopardy when you see these big kinds of numbers, and I think that's the key," said Nawrocki.
The legislative session doesn't begin until January, but the audit evaluation committee could meet before then to discuss the findings.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
