Wall Contractor Sentenced For Defrauding State Agency

WALL, NJ – A Wall Township contractor was sentenced Thursday for billing a state agency with fraudulent charges in Essex County Court, according to the state’s Attorney General’s Office.

Andrew J. Clark, owner of Roof Management, Inc. and A&S Enterprises, Inc., was sentenced to a five-year term of probation, with the condition of 120 hours of community service. In addition, he was ordered with his companies to pay restitution to the PVSC and a $75,000 anti-corruption profiteering penalty.

Clark will also be banned from all government or quasi-government contracts for five years, and the two companies will be debarred from such contracts for 10 years.

“We’re sending a loud and clear message to dishonest contractors that this type of crime does not pay,” said Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal in a press statement. “We’re committed to using all available tools, including New Jersey’s strong criminal laws, to protect the integrity of public contracts and hold bad actors accountable.”

According to a press release, Clark pleaded guilty last September to a third-degree criminal charge of false contract payment claims for a government contract.

In the plea, Clark admitted that he falsely billed the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC) for equipment rental costs of $10,210 that he claimed Roof Management incurred while doing contracted work. The PVSC disputed the equipment rental expenses, but ultimately paid out $5,972 in settlement of that claim.

In September 2017, the PVSC entered into a two-year contract with Roof Management to perform roof repairs and improvements at the PVSC’s Newark plant.

As part of an application for payment of $67,327, Clark, as owner and president of Roof Management, included an invoice for $10,210, costs incurred by Roof Management for renting various pieces of equipment from A&S Enterprises.

The PVSC referred the matter to the Attorney General’s Office Of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA), whose investigation revealed that A&S Enterprises was a shell company set up by Clark with no assets or equipment. All items of equipment used by Roof Management to perform the roof repairs in question were owned or possessed by Roof Management.

“We will continue to work with government agencies to investigate fraud involving public contracts and prosecute dishonest operators who break the law to increase their profits,” said OPIA Director Thomas Eicher.