Firm owner accused of scamming $1 million

The owner of an Elgin engineering consulting firm has been accused of bilking more than $1 million from the Illinois Department of Transportation, federal authorities said Monday.

Kamleshwar Gupta altered his employee timesheets and expense statements to inflate costs he billed the agency for contracts over a 9-year span, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement.

The 63-year-old Barrington man was indicted Thursday on four counts of mail fraud, prosecutors said, adding they also seek to recoup the more than $1 million they believe he received in a fraud scheme.

Gupta is scheduled to be arraigned on the offenses on April 30 in Chicago. It was unknown Monday if he had hired an attorney.

Federal agents said Gupta, the owner of KAM Engineering, a firm with about 30 employees, had his bookkeeper alter timesheets and invoices to overcharge IDOT.

Employees at the firm were told to fill out their timecards in pencil instead of ink, and Gupta signed off on inflated bills the bookkeeper created, according to the statement.

Gupta is accused of netting about $1,069,293 over nine years, authorities said.

If convicted, Gupta could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each mail fraud offense.