TRENTON
– Attorney General Peter C. Harvey
today announced that Manny Bana, a former
Somerset County school construction contractor,
was sentenced to five years in State prison
for embezzling nearly $1 million in public
funds earmarked for school construction
and renovation projects in Edison Township.
“Our
office continues to aggressively investigate
and prosecute persons and companies who
steal from school districts and others
involved in public works contracts for
school construction projects,” said
Attorney General Harvey. “We will
continue to protect taxpayers, school
districts and hard working subcontractors,
including their employees, from unscrupulous
businessmen.”
According to Tracey Thompson, Acting Director
of the Office of Government Integrity
(OGI), Manny Bana, 38, formerly of Roselle
Park and currently residing in Hollywood,
Florida, was sentenced by Middlesex County
Superior Court Judge Frederick P. DeVesa
to five years in State prison. In addition,
Bana was ordered to pay a fine of $10,000
and $106,000 in restitution.
“We
are committed to uncovering and prosecuting
thefts and frauds in the State’s
school construction program,” Thompson
said. “Mr. Bana’s sentence
sends a strong message to anyone who violates
the public’s trust.”
According to Attorney General Harvey,
Bana was the sole owner and operator of
the Somerville-based Icon Construction
Corp., a company hired by the Edison Township
Board of Education in December 2002 to
act as primary contractor on nine different
public school construction projects throughout
the Edison district. The projects were
funded in part by the New Jersey Schools
Construction Corporation (SCC).
The Attorney General said an extensive
investigation by OGI revealed that Bana
stole by accepting payments as primary
contractor on the Edison school construction
jobs, then withholding payment to six
subcontractors hired to help with the
work despite representing that he had
paid those subcontractors. In announcing
Bana’s guilty plea on October 14,
2005, Harvey noted that, while contractors
failing to pay subcontractors is not a
new problem, he knows of no other successful
criminal prosecution of a contractor by
the State for such conduct.
On March 19, 2004 Bana, Union County,
and Icon Construction were debarred by
the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation
and the State Division of Property Management
and Construction from receiving public
works contracts in New Jersey. Bana was
indicted in connection with his Edison
crimes in late March 2005. He turned himself
in shortly thereafter.
Thompson credited OGI State Investigator
Kim Husband, Special Investigator Lee
Wittig, and Deputy Attorney General Ronald
A. Epstein for putting together a thorough
prosecution of the Bana case. She said
the State Commission of Investigation
(SCI) assisted in the investigation.
Subcontractors impacted by the Bana theft
included: Three Generations Plumbing and
Heating, Inc. Of Morris Plains; Weir Welding
Company, Inc., of Carlstadt; DPR Electric,
Inc., of Bound Brook; Brittashan Enterprises
of Franklin; M & R Mechanical Contractors,
Inc., of Highlands and WHL Enterprises,
Inc., trading as Bill Leary Air Conditioning
& Heating of Metuchen.
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