|
TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni
announced that a Virginia man who formerly
ran a company in Lincoln Park, N.J., that
tested underground storage tanks has been
indicted on conspiracy and racketeering charges
for defrauding hundreds of clients by falsifying
test results to generate business for his
tank removal company.
According
to Director Gramiccioni, Albert Taylor, 48,
of Rocky Mount, Va., was charged today in
a four-count state grand jury indictment with
racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering,
both in the second degree, and two counts
of third-degree theft by deception. The charges
resulted from an investigation by the Division
of Criminal Justice Major Crimes Bureau -
Environmental Crimes Section.
“We
charge that this defendant systematically
defrauded clients by falsifying test results
to generate business,” said Attorney
General Milgram. “This defendant
preyed on the fears of customers who were
worried about the potential liability posed
by a leaking underground tank.”
Taylor
formerly lived in Lincoln Park, where he operated
a tank testing company that did business under
a number of names, including Tank Automation,
Tank Tek, IDC Tank, All Tank Services, Tank
Environmental Service, and Computek Services
LLC. The indictment alleges that between January
2006 and January 2008, Taylor charged several
hundred clients $250 to $1,200 to have his
company evaluate whether an underground storage
tank was leaking. The clients were typically
owners or purchasers of homes with underground
storage tanks.
Taylor
claimed his company used high-tech equipment
to perform two tests on the tanks. However,
his employees allegedly did not use the equipment
necessary for one test. For the second test,
they used equipment that was broken, failed
to use the equipment properly, and recorded
insufficient data to make any determination
regarding the integrity of the tank. Almost
every client was told that the evaluation
revealed that the tank was leaking.
The
indictment further alleges that Taylor charged
numerous clients $325 to $850 to take soil
samples to determine whether tanks were leaking.
He allegedly had employees add oil to the
samples. After the clients were told the tank
was leaking, Taylor allegedly had his employees
recommend Tank Management as a reputable company
to remove the tank, without disclosing that
Taylor owned Tank Management.
“The
Division of Criminal Justice is focusing on
more complex white collar crime cases, including
racketeering cases such as this one,”
said Director Gramiccioni. “Our
detectives and attorney did an outstanding
job putting together this complicated environmental
fraud case.”
The
investigation was conducted and coordinated
by Detective Steven Ogulin, Detective Michael
Klumpp, Lt. Jeffrey Gross and Deputy Attorney
General Phillip Leahy of the Division of Criminal
Justice Major Crimes Bureau - Environmental
Crimes Section. Deputy Attorney General Leahy
presented the case to the state grand jury.
Attorney
General Milgram thanked the Westchester County
District Attorney's Office in New York State
and the New York State Environmental Conservation
Police for their assistance in the investigation.
In addition, she thanked the Lincoln Park
Police and Passaic County Sheriff's Department
for assisting in executing search warrants.
Second-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years
in state prison and a $150,000 criminal fine,
while third-degree crimes carry a maximum
sentence of five years in prison and a $15,000
fine.
The
indictment is merely an accusation and the
defendant is presumed innocent until proven
guilty. A copy of the indictment is linked
to this release at www.njpublicsafety.com.
The
indictment was voted yesterday afternoon and
handed up to Superior Court Judge Maria Marinari
Sypek in Mercer County. It was filed in court
today. Judge Sypek assigned the case to Morris
County, where Taylor will be arraigned at
a later date.
#
# # |
