Smart motorway construction firms were placed under investigation for fraud, bribery and corruption, it can be revealed.
Workmen for companies building the roads were accused of stealing scrap metal and submitting false claims for hours worked by creating ‘ghost employees’.
Investigators at National Highways found 320,000 of scrap metal was ‘unaccounted for and missing’ from a project on the M1, according to leaked internal documents.
But they were unable to pursue a criminal prosecution for theft due to a lack of ‘reliable witness testimony’ and ‘concerns for the safety’ of one witness.
They found ‘no evidence’ to support the ‘ghost employees’ accusation. The claims were part of a bombshell dossier, obtained by the Daily Mail, which was compiled by road bosses at National Highways.
They relate to a section of smart motorway on the M1 from junctions 13 to 16, between Milton Keynes and Northampton, due to open later this year or next. The agency said it has withheld payments to construction firms following the claims.
Among the accusations was also that one worker for the main contractor, a joint venture between Costain and Galliford Try referred to as ‘CGT JV’, was handed ‘brown envelopes’ on building sites by subcontractors, said to be in return for business favours.
The same worker, who was alleged to have benefited from the theft of scrap metal, was also accused of accepting ‘inappropriate gifts’.
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