|
TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that an engineer who oversaw construction
projects for three school districts pleaded
guilty today to taking thousands of dollars
in kickbacks on contracts he recommended
that involved rigged bids and fraudulently
inflated costs. Charges are pending against
the suspended business administrator for
the Westfield School District and three
contractors who were charged along with
the engineer in March.
According
to Director Taylor, Kenneth Disko, 48, of
Mountainside, pleaded guilty today before
Superior Court Judge Joseph P. Donohue in
Union County to an accusation charging him
with the second-degree offense of making
false representations for a government contract.
In pleading guilty, Disko admitted that
he orchestrated a series of bid-rigging
and kickback schemes from 2001 to 2010 as
the contracted engineer or engineer/architect
on record for the Westfield, Tinton Falls
and Scotch Plains-Fanwood school districts.
Under
the plea agreement, the state will recommend
that Disko be sentenced to three to five
years in state prison. The state will also
recommend that he be ordered to pay a penalty
of at least $50,000 into the state’s
Anti-Trust Revolving Fund for anti-trust
enforcement efforts. Disko will be barred
from public contracts in New Jersey for
10 years. He must cooperate fully in the
ongoing investigation and prosecution by
the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau. Deputy Attorney General Vincent
J. Militello took the guilty plea.
“School
districts and taxpayers can’t afford
to pay more for goods and services because
corrupt officials such as this defendant
inflate contracts and build in kickbacks
for their personal enrichment,” said
Attorney General Dow. “We will continue
to root out public corruption through this
type of investigation and prosecution.”
“Our
message is clear,” said Director Taylor.
“We will aggressively prosecute public
officials who unlawfully serve themselves
at the expense of the taxpayers they are
sworn to serve.”
Judge
Donohue scheduled sentencing for Disko for
Jan. 20.
The
state’s investigation revealed that
Disko knowingly prepared fraudulent quotes
and estimates in connection with school
district contracts, and directed contractors
to inflate quotes and estimates. He admitted
that he submitted those quotes and estimates
to the three school districts and recommended
approval of the fraudulently bid contracts
in exchange for thousands of dollars in
kickbacks from contractors.
Three
contractors were charged by complaint on
March 9, 2011 with making false contract
payment claims (2nd degree):
-
John Sangiuliano, 57, of Scotch Plains,
co-owner of Metropolitan Metal Window
Company;
- Martin
W. Starr, 45, of Cliffwood Beach, owner
of Starr Contracting; and
- Stephen
M. Gallagher, 50, of Cliffwood Beach,
owner of East Commercial Construction
and Tara Construction.
In
addition, Westfield School District Business
Administrator and Board Secretary Robert
A. Berman, 55, of South Plainfield, was
charged by complaint on that date with second-degree
bribery for allegedly accepting over $13,000
worth of window glass and doors installed
at his home by Metropolitan from 2004 to
2008, in return for making written recommendations
that the Westfield Board of Education appoint
Metropolitan as the district’s “contractor
of record.” Berman was suspended by
the Westfield School District after the
charge was filed.
The
charges against Berman, Sangiuliano, Starr
and Gallagher are pending. Second-degree
charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years
in state prison and a criminal fine of $150,000.
The charges are merely accusations and the
defendants are presumed innocent until proven
guilty. The charges will be presented to
a state grand jury for potential indictment.
The
investigation was led by Deputy Attorney
General Militello, Sgt. Lisa Shea and Detective
Michael Behar of the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Bureau.
It
is alleged that, in bidding on contracts
for the Westfield and Tinton Falls school
districts, Sangiuliano, at Disko’s
direction, knowingly prepared fraudulent
quotes bearing the names of other legitimate
contractors, making the quotes higher than
his own. He submitted the quotes to Disko,
who recommended that the contracts be awarded
to Sangiuliano’s company, Metropolitan.
It is also alleged that, at the direction
of Disko, Sangiuliano knowingly inflated
Metropolitan’s quotes and the cost
of repairs for the contracts. In exchange
for the inflated contracts, Sangiuliano
allegedly gave kickbacks to Disko in excess
of $36,000 in 2009 and 2010. The investigation
revealed that Disko also received over $44,000
in kickbacks from a prior owner of Metropolitan
who is now deceased for contracts awarded
from 2001 to 2004.
In
bidding one contract in the Westfield schools,
Disko told Sangiuliano he would include
the replacement of seven windows in the
scope of work for the bidding specifications,
even though those seven windows had been
recently replaced by Sangiuliano. This allegedly
enabled Sangiuliano to bid lower than other
contractors, knowing he would not have to
replace the windows. Sangiuliano was awarded
the job. He allegedly also kept an additional
$18,000 in “bid allowances”
for unforeseen work that was approved by
Disko as the architect/engineer of record.
Sangiuliano, in fact, did not perform any
unforeseen or additional work on the project.
It
is further alleged that between 2004 and
2008, Sangiuliano installed free window
glass and doors, valued at over $13,000,
in Berman’s home in exchange for Berman’s
recommendation of Metropolitan as contractor
of record for the Westfield School District.
The contractor of record is contracted on
an ongoing basis to handle school repairs
and construction projects that arise.
The
charge against Starr involves contracts
worth approximately $39,530 that were awarded
to Starr Contracting by the Westfield and
Scotch Plains-Fanwood districts. In 2009
and 2010, Starr allegedly prepared fictitious
quotes from legitimate contractors without
their permission and submitted them to Disko
in order to appear to be the lowest bidder
for the contracts.
It
is alleged that Gallagher helped Starr to
obtain those contracts in the Westfield
and Scotch Plains-Fanwood districts by preparing
fraudulent and fictitious quotes and estimates
for his own companies and submitting them
to Disko as higher bids than those submitted
by Starr. Also, in connection with other
contracts that were awarded to Gallagher’s
companies in the Westfield and Scotch Plains-Fanwood
districts, Gallagher allegedly inflated
quotes and the cost of work performed. In
return for the inflated contracts, Gallagher
allegedly gave cash kickbacks to Disko.
### |
