MDOT probed over $800K adviser paid

MDOT probed over $800K adviser paid

The state auditor’s office is investigating a Mississippi Department of Transportation contract that reportedly paid a Virginia railroad consultant more than $800,000.

Lisa Shoemaker, a spokeswoman for Auditor Stacy Pickering, on Monday confirmed the probe that was first reported by The Sun Herald.

The contract paid $100 an hour for railroad advice from Bill Hughes of Hughes Consulting, which is based in Roanoke, Va., according to the newspaper. One top official to whom the consulting-services invoices were sent is no longer with MDOT, but officials there wouldn’t comment on his departure.

AP
12/21/10