| TRENTON
– Attorney General Stuart Rabner today
announced that the treasurer of a Barrington
construction company has pleaded guilty
to forgery for altering a state credential
to obtain a school construction contract.
According
to Office of Government Integrity Acting
Director Tracy M. Thompson, Ethan E. Joss,
32, of Mantua, pleaded guilty on Nov. 14
to a third-degree charge of forgery before
Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Brown Jr.
in Camden County. Joss is the former treasurer
and part owner of his family’s company,
EEJ Mechanical Inc. of Barrington.
Joss admitted that in order for EEJ Mechanical
to bid on a $1.7 million contract with the
Haddon Heights Board of Education to install
HVAC systems in two schools – a contract
the company succeeded in obtaining –
he altered a figure on a state certification
to increase the amount of business the company
was authorized to perform. Specifically,
he admitted he increased from $750,000 to
$4 million the aggregate amount designated
on the company’s notice of classification
from the state Division of Property Management
& Construction. The aggregate amount
restricts how much work a company can take
on at one time and is determined by state
treasury officials based upon a company’s
performance record, financial statements
and bonding ability. A notice of classification
must be submitted with any bid package for
a public contract.
“We
are working hard to eliminate fraud and
waste in New Jersey’s school construction
program, and the falsification of a state
credential by a contractor is a crime that
we take very seriously,” said Attorney
General Rabner. “A notice of classification
from the state treasurer is intended to
help ensure that a contractor has the capability
to adequately perform a public contract.”
Third-degree
crimes carry a sentence of up to five years
in state prison and a criminal fine of not
more than $15,000. In addition, Joss has
agreed to be debarred for three years by
the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation
and the Division of Property Management
& Construction, which means he will
be prohibited for that period from working
on any public contract in New Jersey. He
must divest his ownership interest in EEJ
Mechanical as part of the agreement. Deputy
Attorney General James F. Flanagan and State
Investigator Alan Drummond handled the case
for the Office of Government Integrity.
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