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TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that a former JCP&L manager,
a consultant for the company, and a third
man were sentenced today in connection with
a theft of $11.5 million from a state energy
rebate program.
According
to Director Paw, Harold Stamateris, 47,
of Basking Ridge, was ordered to serve 10
years in state prison and pay $3.7 million
in restitution by Superior Court Judge Salem
V. Ahto in Morris County. Judge Ahto ordered
Anant Patel, 46, of Roxbury, to serve 15
years in state prison and pay $1.4 million
in restitution, and he ordered Patel’s
brother, Girish Patel, 50, of Rockaway,
to serve three years probation. Girish Patel
was ordered to pay $16,000 in restitution.
Anant
Patel pleaded guilty before Judge Ahto on
Oct. 18 to money laundering and theft. At
the guilty plea hearing, he admitted that
he was an accomplice with Stamateris to
obtain $11.5 million in payments for bogus
or inflated applications under the New Jersey
Smart Start Buildings Program, which offers
rebates to companies that install more efficient
lighting or HVAC systems. Anant Patel was
hired by JCP&L as a consultant to inspect
and verify installation work under the program.
Stamateris managed the rebate program for
JCP&L. At his guilty plea hearing on
Feb. 6, Stamateris admitted he knowingly
signed off on the fraudulent rebates. The
program, which is funded by a surcharge
on utility bills, is mandated by the Board
of Public Utilities, but was administered
by utility companies at the time of the
fraud. The program has since transitioned
and is administered by the BPU through a
market manager.
Anant
Patel admitted that he signed off on work
that was never performed, and also created
a number of bogus contracting and consulting
companies to submit false invoices under
the program. He admitted he laundered fraudulent
rebate checks using a number of bank accounts.
“The
defendants stole millions of dollars belonging
to ratepayers,” said Attorney General
Milgram. “The sentences imposed today
send a clear message that we will aggressively
investigate and prosecute fraud affecting
public programs.”
“I
congratulate Attorney General Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Paw on the sentencing,”
said Jeanne M. Fox, President of the BPU.
“Now that the criminal process has
been completed, it clears the way for the
Board to obtain reimbursement from JCP&L
of the money that was taken by the defendants,
and put the money towards its intended purpose
of improving energy efficiency in New Jersey.”
Anant
Patel and Stamateris carried out the fraudulent
scheme with an electrical contractor, William
D. Eaton Jr., 56, of Caldwell, who fatally
shot himself on Jan. 30 after his arrest
in this case.
The
investigation revealed that Anant Patel
supplied Eaton with information about actual
commercial buildings so that Eaton could
prepare fraudulent rebate invoices representing
that his electrical supply company, Light
Source Energy Services Inc. of Fairfield,
supplied and, in many cases, installed fixtures.
In reality, no fixtures were supplied or
the invoices inflated the number of fixtures.
For
example, Eaton claimed to have installed
fixtures for a Costco, a Marriot hotel,
Pfizer and a Barnes & Noble warehouse,
for which Light Source received rebates
of $109,000, $50,858, $77,360 and $55,950,
respectively. In fact, no fixtures were
supplied or installed. He inflated the cost
of fixtures supplied to two Morris County
School districts, receiving $492,000 in
rebates for $209,000 in fixtures for the
Parsippany/Troy Hills Board of Education,
and $233,800 in rebates for $87,000 in fixtures
for the Jefferson Township Board of Education.
Light
Source received rebates totaling roughly
$4.4 million, which allegedly was divided
by the three men.
The
three men conspired in a second scheme in
which they arranged for Eaton’s consulting
company, Enernet Inc., to receive fees that
are paid to consultants under the Smart
Start program to conduct energy efficiency
studies for utility customers. The three
men split about $2.5 million paid to Enernet
in connection with fraudulent studies.
Finally,
Stamateris conspired with Anant Patel to
recruit individuals, including Patel’s
brother, Girish Patel, to help set up 12
other contracting and consulting companies
to submit bogus applications to the Smart
Start program. Those companies received
roughly $4.6 million, which was divided
among the co-conspirators.
Girish
Patel pleaded guilty on Feb. 5 to a charge
of third-degree conspiracy, admitting that
he assisted Anant Patel and Stamateris.
The
case was referred to the Division of Criminal
Justice by JCP&L’s internal audit
group. The case was investigated and prosecuted
for the Division of Criminal Justice - Major
Financial Crimes Bureau by State Investigator
Louis A. Matirko and Supervising Deputy
Attorney General Rodger Wolf. Analyst Amy
Patterson of the Division of Criminal Justice,
Investigator Thaedra Chebra of the Division
of Taxation, and JCP&L Auditors Craig
Fink and Jon Storch assisted Matirko in
the investigation.
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