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TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni
announced that the Division of Criminal
Justice obtained a new indictment today
charging the former sales director of OSI
Collection Services Inc. with conspiring
to falsely bill the state more than $1 million
and cover up the unlawful billing.
According
to Director Gramiccioni, the Division of
Criminal Justice obtained a seven-count
state grand jury indictment charging Sandra
Bielanski, 41, of Hillsborough, with theft
by deception, misconduct by a corporate
official, and five counts of making false
contract payment claims, all second-degree
crimes.
Two
other employees of OSI were previously charged
in connection with the false billing. Enos
“George” Blake, 61, of Kendall
Park, and Carol Labbe, 41, of Jackson, also
face second-degree charges of theft by deception,
misconduct by a corporate official, and
five counts of false contract payment claims.
They were initially indicted in February
2007, and were charged in a superseding
indictment on March 10, 2008.
The
indictment against Blake and Labbe alleges
that Blake, as the OSI vice president responsible
for managing state projects, and Labbe,
as his de facto second in command, purposely
submitted improper bills between January
1999 and May 2005 that caused the state
to overpay OSI by $1,184,662. The indictment
against Bielanski alleges that, as sales
director, she became aware of the overbilling
by Blake and Labbe and conspired to conceal
the false billing from the state.
“We
now have indicted three employees of this
vendor for deliberately overbilling the
state by more than $1 million,” said
Attorney General Milgram. “In today’s
indictment, we charge that Ms. Bielanski
learned of the unlawful billing and was
complicit in efforts to cover it up.”
According
to Director Gramiccioni, Blake and Labbe
were responsible for signing off on payment
vouchers submitted to the state under three
contracts to collect delinquent and deficient
taxes. It is alleged that Blake and Labbe
purposely submitted improper bills in connection
with nine OSI employees that resulted in
the state making payments totaling $1,184,662
that were not authorized under the contracts.
The
contracts provided for OSI to bill the state
on an hourly basis for work performed in
connection with the state contracts by employees
who fit five defined job titles. In some
cases, employees were identified with incorrect
job titles that resulted in them being billed
at a higher rate of pay, while in other
cases employees were billed who should not
have been billed at all.
“The
State of New Jersey pays millions of dollars
each year to vendors and must be able to
count on the integrity of those with whom
it does business,” said Director Gramiccioni.
“We will vigorously investigate and
prosecute corporate officials who deal dishonestly
with the state.”
Bielanski
also is charged in a state grand jury indictment
dated Aug. 10, 2006, along with three employees
of the State Division of Taxation. The former
division director, Robert K. Thompson, 60,
of Hamilton, and two deputy directors, David
M. Gavin, 56, of Titusville, and Harold
E. Fox, 60, of Wall, are charged with making
discretionary decisions while under undisclosed
conflicts of interest caused by their receipt
of meals, entertainment, golf outings and
other gifts from OSI. Thompson and Gavin
are charged with official misconduct and
engaging in a pattern of official misconduct,
and Fox is charged with official misconduct,
all second-degree offenses.
Under
that indictment, Bielanski is charged with
arranging for the state officials to receive
the gifts and benefits. She faces six counts
of offering an unlawful benefit to a public
servant for official behavior, three in
the third degree and three in the fourth
degree.
The
indictments resulted from investigations
that were conducted and coordinated by Detective
Benjamin Kukis and Deputy Attorneys General
Thomas Clark and Steven Zweig of the Division
of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau. Deputy
Attorneys General Clark and Zweig presented
today’s indictment against Bielanski
to the state grand jury.
Second-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years
in state prison and a $150,000 fine. The
indictment is merely an accusation and the
defendant is presumed innocent until proven
guilty.
The
indictment was handed up to Judge Linda
R. Feinberg in Superior Court in Mercer
County, where Bielanski will be ordered
to appear at a later date to answer the
charges. A copy of the indictment is available
with this release at www.njpublicsafety.com.
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