LI Contractor Paid $1.8 Million For ‘Padding’ NY State Bills: AG

HICKSVILLE, NY — The Hicksville-based contractor V.J. Associates Inc. of Suffolk has agreed to pay $1.8 million for padding public works bills submitted to the Metropolitan Transit Authority, as well as state agencies in New Jersey and Massachusetts, state Attorney General Letitia James said Friday.

The multi-state agreement stems from the company and its affiliates inflating cost estimates and scheduling services on public works projects, while acting as a subcontractor to prime contractors on public works projects for the MTA, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New York City’s School Construction Authority, as well as other government entities, James’ office said.

An investigation was launched after a whistleblower filed a complaint under the New York False Claims Act, the Federal False Claims Act, and other statutes in Massachusetts and New Jersey, James’ office said.

Under the agreement, which was signed on March 11, the attorney general’s office has recovered $1.8 million, with $1.6 million going to New York, James office said. Massachusetts will be paid about $152,000, and New Jersey about $16,427.

The company, which admitted to submitting the false bills, has agreed to be debarred from submitting bids or being awarded any public work contracts with the state of New York and any other public body within the state for five years, James’ office said.

The company’s attorney, Steven Huggard of Boston, Mass., was not immediately available for comment.

The company’s work was performed under two types of contracts, including time and expense contracts, under which it was paid for the hours it claimed its employees worked, and fixed-fee contracts, James’ office said.

The company submitted false bills to prime contractors, VJA submitted false bills to the prime contractors on “certain time and expense public works projects” where its employees worked from one of its offices, rather than on-site, at government offices from Jan. 1, 2013 through Aug. 29, 2018, James’ office said.

VJA over billed for hours that its employees worked on unrelated, fixed-fee projects, hours that its employees spent performing unrelated administrative tasks, and hours that were “excessive and unnecessary,” James said.

James said her office expects contractors taking on public works projects that bill the state to act with the highest levels of honesty.

“V.J. Associates padded hours and bilked our state’s taxpayers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars for hours they never worked,” she said. “Not only are we now recovering the ill-gotten gains of these fraudsters, but we are ensuring that V.J. Associates cannot bid on or be awarded another public-works contract with the state for at least five years. New Yorkers can always rely on my office to fight to protect their tax dollars.”

MTA Inspector General Carolyn Pokorny said that “riders and taxpayers have a right to know that unscrupulous contractors will not rip off the hard-earned tax dollars and fares dedicated to our public transportation system.”

“Executives at V.J. Associates padded their invoices to the MTA in a failed attempt to steal precious dollars from New Yorkers. I am grateful to our law enforcement partners at the New York attorney general’s office and pleased these individuals have been held accountable,” she said.