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TRENTON – Attorney
General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice
Director Stephen J. Taylor today announced
the arrest of a senior engineer for the
New Jersey Department of Transportation
(DOT) and an alleged accomplice on charges
that they solicited a railroad company to
fraudulently inflate the cost of a state-funded
railroad repair project by approximately
$700,000 and pay them $325,000 in bribes.
The railroad company alerted
the Division of Criminal Justice regarding
the alleged plot and cooperated in the state’s
investigation.
According to Director Taylor,
Gaudner B. Metellus, 31, of Philadelphia,
Pa., a senior engineer for DOT, and Ernest
J. Dubose, 30, of Boston, Mass., were arrested
late yesterday by detectives from the Division
of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau. They
were charged by complaint with official
misconduct and attempted theft by deception,
both second-degree crimes. The two men are
being held in the Morris County jail with
bail set for each at $100,000.
“We charge that this
senior engineer for DOT brazenly violated
the public trust,” said Attorney General
Dow. “He and his co-defendant allegedly
solicited a railroad company to conspire
in a scheme to bill the state hundreds of
thousands of dollars for fictitious rail
repairs. This was a case of the fox minding
the henhouse, because Metellus was responsible
for monitoring rail projects to ensure that
grant funds were properly spent.”
“The conduct of this
public official was outrageous,” said
Director Taylor. “We charge that he
and his accomplice took $325,000 in bribes
as their cut in this fraudulent scheme.
That is one of the largest bribes alleged
in state history. Our investigation is ongoing.”
Metellus and Dubose allegedly
solicited representatives of the Morristown
& Erie Railway, Inc., a shortline freight
railroad operating in Morris and Essex Counties,
to engage in a conspiracy to inflate an
existing application for state grant funds
from approximately $700,000 to $1.4 million
in connection with a project to rehabilitate
a railroad bridge in Roseland.
Metellus and Dubose allegedly
proposed that the company submit false invoices
to the state for rehabilitation work that
would never be performed. They allegedly
demanded that the company split the fraudulently
obtained grant funds with them. Metellus
was responsible for confirming the need
for repair work and inspecting completed
work in connection with certain DOT grants.
On Aug. 12, company officials
secretly audiotaped a meeting that the CEO
of Morristown & Erie and another employee
held with Metellus at the company’s
offices in Morristown, in which Metellus
allegedly described the fraudulent scheme.
The company contacted the Division of Criminal
Justice the following day. The company cooperated
in the state’s investigation, recording
additional conversations in which the two
defendants allegedly discussed the scheme.
The state also obtained emails allegedly
sent by Metellus about the scheme.
On Aug. 23, Metellus and
Dubose met with representatives of the railroad
company in their offices in Morristown and
allegedly received two company checks made
payable to Dubose in the amounts of $10,000
and $315,000. The defendants allegedly instructed
company representatives to make the checks
payable to Dubose as a purported “consultant”
on the project. In reality, Dubose had no
knowledge or skills that would enable him
to act as a consultant for the project.
The $10,000 check was subsequently
deposited into a bank account in Dubose’s
name. The $315,000 check was postdated to
Nov. 5, 2010, allegedly at the direction
of Metellus, who indicated that the company
would receive state grant funds by that
time.
Detective Sgt. David Salzmann,
Detective Michael Behar, Deputy Attorney
General Michael A. Monahan and Deputy Attorney
General Perry Primavera conducted the investigation
for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau. Detective Nicole Leo of the Morris
County Sheriff’s Office provided assistance
in filing the charges.
Because the charges are
indictable offenses they will be presented
to a state grand jury for potential indictment.
Second-degree crimes carry
a maximum sentence of 10 years in state
prison and a criminal fine of $150,000.
If convicted of the official misconduct
charge, Metellus would face a maximum sentence
of 10 years in prison, including five years
without possibility of parole. The charges
are merely accusations and the defendants
are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Attorney
General Dow and Director Taylor noted that
the Division of Criminal Justice has established
a toll-free Corruption Tipline for the public
to report corruption, financial crime and
other illegal activities. The statewide
Corruption Tipline is 1-866-TIPS-4CJ.
Additionally, the public can log on to the
Division of Criminal Justice Web site at
www.njdcj.org
to report suspected wrongdoing. All information
received through the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Tipline or Web page will
remain confidential.
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