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TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that a Somerset County contractor
was charged with theft today for submitting
false information so that his family’s
company could obtain a contract to replace
doors in four schools in Clark Township.
He allegedly concealed that he had been
prohibited from bidding on federal contracts,
and he made other false representations
in documents submitted for the project.
According
to Director Paw, Rantik Parikh, 47, of Warren,
was indicted today by a state grand jury
on second-degree charges of theft by deception,
false representation for a government contract,
and false contract payment claims. The defendant
is a principal in Parikh Inc., a company
that was owned by his parents at the time
but that he ran. The company also was indicted
today on the same three charges. Parikh
and Parikh Inc. allegedly received $118,900
in taxpayer funds as a result of their false
representations. Parikh brokered the contract
to another subcontractor that actually performed
the door installations and received the
balance of the $295,500 contract price.
“We
will not tolerate contractors who resort
to deception in the bidding or performance
of state-funded school construction contracts,”
said Director Paw. “We will investigate
and prosecute these matters.”
The
indictment alleges that Parikh and Parikh
Inc. made false representations in bid documents
and other submissions to the New Jersey
Schools Construction Corporation –
now the Schools Development Authority –
in connection with a 2004 contract to replace
doors at the Johnson, Kumpf, Valley Road
and Hehnly Schools in Clark. The defendants
allegedly falsely certified that neither
Parikh Inc. nor its principals were “debarred”
from contracting with any government agency.
Debar refers to being excluded from bidding
or contracting. In fact, Parikh and another
company he owned, Arkay Construction, were
debarred from federal contracts at the time.
Parikh agreed to a three-year debarment
in 2001 to settle a prevailing wage violation
dispute involving a contract between Arkay
and the U.S. Department of the Army. Parikh
Inc. would not have been eligible to bid
on the Clark contract if that had been disclosed.
The
defendants also misrepresented that Parikh
Inc had subcontracted two qualified Small
Business Enterprises for the project in
accordance with the state’s SBE set
aside program. The program required general
contractors to make a good faith effort
to subcontract at least 25% of the total
contract price to state-recognized SBEs.
Compliance with the set aside program was
a material consideration for the Schools
Construction Corporation in contract approval.
Parikh and Parikh Inc. submitted forms identifying
two SBEs as subcontractors: Rangam Consultants
Inc., which is managed and owned by Parikh’s
brother and sister-in-law, was listed for
22 percent of the total contract price or
$65,000, and ANS Consultants Inc. was listed
for 5 percent or $15,000. The state’s
investigation revealed that those firms
did little or no work on the project. The
door installations were performed by subcontractor
C&M Door Controls Inc. for $176,600.
Finally,
it is alleged that in January 2005, the
defendants falsely certified in a payment
application to the Schools Construction
Corporation that Rangam had been paid for
work performed. They further certified that
any additional money owed to any subcontractors
would be paid within 10 days of receipt
of the next contract payment. Based on these
representations, the SCC authorized payment
of $57,332.50 to Parikh Inc. in May 2005.
However, the state’s investigation
revealed that the first time any money was
paid to Rangam was nearly 1 ½ years
after the certification. No money was ever
paid to ANS.
The
investigation was conducted by State Investigator
David Salzmann and Supervising State Investigator
Frederick Weidman. Deputy Attorney General
Pearl Minato presented the case to the state
grand jury on behalf of the Division of
Criminal Justice, Corruption Bureau, Schools
Construction Fraud Unit.
Second-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years
in state prison and a maximum criminal fine
of $150,000. The indictment is merely an
accusation and the defendants are presumed
innocent until proven guilty.
The
indictment was handed up to Superior Court
Judge Linda R. Feinberg in Mercer County.
The defendants will be ordered to appear
in Superior Court in Mercer County at a
later date to answer the charges.
A
copy of the indictment is linked to this
press release at www.njpublicsafety.com.
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