|
TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that a former consultant to JCP&L
pleaded guilty today in connection with
a theft of $11.5 million from a state energy
rebate program.
According
to Paw, Anant Patel, 46, of Roxbury, pleaded
guilty to charges of second-degree money
laundering and second-degree theft before
Superior Court Judge Salem V. Ahto in Morris
County. Under the plea agreement, the state
will recommend a 15-year prison sentence
for Patel. The state is seeking full restitution,
and Patel will pay $775,000 in restitution
at the time of sentencing.
The
investigation revealed that Patel conspired
with two other men to obtain $11.5 million
in payments for bogus or inflated applications
under the New Jersey Smart Start Buildings
Program, which offers rebates to companies
that install more efficient lighting or
HVAC systems. Patel was hired by JCP&L
as a consultant to inspect and verify installation
work under the program. In pleading guilty,
Patel admitted that he signed off on work
that was never performed, and also created
a number of bogus contracting and consulting
companies to submit false invoices under
the program. He admitted he laundered fraudulent
rebate checks using a number of bank accounts.
“Mr.
Patel used his position of trust as a consultant
to JCP&L to steal millions of dollars
belonging to ratepayers,” said Attorney
General Milgram. “We will continue
to dedicate the resources necessary to aggressively
investigate and prosecute fraud affecting
public programs.”
“I
congratulate Attorney General Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Paw on this guilty
plea,” said Jeanne M. Fox, President
of the BPU. “Once the defendants are
sentenced, it will clear the way for the
Board to obtain reimbursement from JCP&L
of the money that was taken by the defendants,
and put the money towards its intended purpose
of improving energy efficiency in New Jersey.”
The
investigation revealed that Patel conspired
with Harold Stamateris, 47, of Basking Ridge,
who managed the rebate program for JCP&L
and was responsible for approving rebate
applications. The program, which is funded
by a surcharge on utility bills, is mandated
by the Board of Public Utilities but administered
by utility companies. Stamateris pleaded
guilty on Feb. 6 to first-degree conspiracy,
admitting he knowingly signed off on the
fraudulent rebates. He faces a state prison
sentence of 10 to 20 years. The state is
seeking full restitution, and Stamateris
will pay $2,200,000 in restitution at the
time of sentencing.
Patel
and Stamateris carried out the fraudulent
scheme with an electrical contractor, William
D. Eaton Jr., 56, of Caldwell, who fatally
shot himself on Jan. 30 after his arrest
in this case.
Judge
Ahto scheduled sentencing for Patel for
Dec. 21.
The
case was referred to the Division of Criminal
Justice by JCP&L’s internal audit
group. The case was investigated and prosecuted
for the Division of Criminal Justice - Major
Financial Crimes Bureau by State Investigator
Louis A. Matirko and Supervising Deputy
Attorney General Rodger Wolf. Analyst Amy
Patterson of the Division of Criminal Justice,
Investigator Thaedra Chebra of the Division
of Taxation, and JCP&L Auditors Craig
Fink and Jon Storch assisted Matirko in
the investigation.
The
investigation revealed that Patel supplied
Eaton with information about actual commercial
buildings so that Eaton could prepare fraudulent
rebate invoices representing that his electrical
supply company, Light Source Energy Services
Inc. of Fairfield, supplied and, in many
cases, installed fixtures. In reality, no
fixtures were supplied or the invoices inflated
the number of fixtures.
For
example, Eaton claimed to have installed
fixtures for a Costco, a Marriot hotel,
Pfizer and a Barnes & Noble warehouse,
for which Light Source received rebates
of $109,000, $50,858, $77,360 and $55,950,
respectively. In fact, no fixtures were
supplied or installed. He inflated the cost
of fixtures supplied to two Morris County
School districts, receiving $492,000 in
rebates for $209,000 in fixtures for the
Parsippany/Troy Hills Board of Education,
and $233,800 in rebates for $87,000 in fixtures
for the Jefferson Township Board of Education.
Light
Source received rebates totaling roughly
$4.4 million, which allegedly was divided
by the three men.
The
three men conspired in a second scheme in
which they arranged for Eaton’s consulting
company, Enernet Inc., to receive fees that
are paid to consultants under the Smart
Start program to conduct energy efficiency
studies for utility customers. The three
men split about $2.5 million paid to Enernet
in connection with fraudulent studies.
Finally,
Stamateris conspired with Anant Patel to
recruit individuals, including Patel’s
brother, Girish Patel, to help set up 12
other contracting and consulting companies
to submit bogus applications to the Smart
Start program. Those companies received
roughly $4.6 million, which was divided
among the co-conspirators.
Girish
Patel, 50, of Rockaway, pleaded guilty on
Feb. 5 to a charge of third-degree conspiracy,
admitting that he assisted Patel and Stamateris.
It is anticipated that Stamateris and Girish
Patel will also be sentenced on Dec. 21.
#
# # |
