WASHINGTON--The co-owner of a Martinsville, NJ, landscaping company pleaded guilty to participating in a fraud conspiracy at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-designated Superfund site, Federal Creosote, located in Manville, NJ, the Department of Justice announced yesterday.
Frederick Landgraber pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey today to one count of conspiracy to defraud the EPA from approximately March 2002 until approximately June 2005 at the Federal Creosote site. As part of the conspiracy, Landgraber provided more than $30,000 in kickbacks to an employee of the prime contractor at the site in exchange for which that employee steered landscaping sub-contracts to Landgraber's company. Landgraber and his co-conspirator subverted the competitive bidding process by submitting intentionally high cover bids on behalf of fictitious companies. In total, Landgraber's company received approximately $1.5 million in sub-contracts at Federal Creosote.
The clean-up at the Federal Creosote site is partly funded by the EPA. Under an interagency agreement between the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, prime contractors oversaw the removal, treatment and disposal of contaminated soil, as well as other operations at the Federal Creosote site.
"The fictitious bids were created specifically to evade bidding requirements that are in place to ensure competition and protect taxpayer dollars in the government procurement process," said Scott D. Hammond, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement of the Department's Antitrust Division. "The Antitrust Division will continue to apprehend and prosecute those who commit these crimes."
Yesterday's charge is the result of an ongoing antitrust investigation into bid rigging, bribery, fraud and tax-related offenses at New Jersey Superfund sites.
The fraud conspiracy that Landgraber is charged with carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.
Department of Justice
www.usdoj.gov
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