UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
- against -
AMERICAN COMPOSITE TIMBERS, INC.,
Defendant.
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INFORMATION
FILED: October 23, 2008
Cr. No. 08-cr-714 (ADS)
T. (T. 18, U.S.C. § 371)
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CRIMINAL INFORMATION
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THROUGH ITS ATTORNEYS, CHARGES
THAT:
At all times relevant to this Information:
1. The defendant AMERICAN COMPOSITE TIMBERS, INC.("ACT")
is an entity organized and existing under the laws of New York
with its principal place of business in Commack, New York. ACT
is a reseller of plastic pilings to various entities including
the City of New York.
2. Plastic marine pilings are reinforced synthetic
pilings, resembling telephone poles, used as substitutes for
traditional wood timber pilings in port and pier construction
projects and other marine applications. ACT and its co-conspirators were engaged in selling plastic pilings to the City
of New York.
3. From in or about 1999 until in or about February 2003,
the exact dates being unknown to the United States, in the
Eastern District of New York and elsewhere, the defendant ACT,
together with other co-conspirators, did knowingly and
intentionally conspire with co-conspirator CHARLES N. KRISS
("KRISS"), an agent of the New York City Department of Citywide
Administrative Services, an organization or agency of the City of
New York, a local government which received Federal benefits in
excess of $10,000 in each of the years 1999 through 2003, to
corruptly accept and agree to accept things of value from other
persons, intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection
with business or a series of transactions of an organization or
agency of the City of New York involving things of value of
$5,000 or more, in violation of Title 18 United States Code,
Section 666(a)(1)(B), all in violation of Title 18 United States
Code, Section 371.
4. Various corporations and individuals, not made
defendants in this Information, participated as co-conspirators
in the offense charged herein and performed acts and made
statements in furtherance thereof.
5. Whenever in this Information reference is made to any act, deed or transaction of any corporation, the allegation
means that the corporation engaged in the act, deed, or
transaction by or through its officers, directors, agents,
employees, or other representatives while they were actively
engaged in the management, direction, control or transaction of
its business or affairs.
The CONSPIRACY AND ITS OBJECTS
6. KRISS was, as part of his employment with the City of
New York, assigned to oversee aspects of repairs to Pier 86, a
pier located on the Hudson River in Manhattan. At all times
relevant to this Information, Pier 86 was the principal location
of displays constituting the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
The repairs to Pier 86 included the purchase and installation of
plastic pilings from approximately January, 2000 through 2002,
the exact dates being unknown to the United States.
7. From in or about 2000 through 2002, the exact dates
being unknown to the United States, a corporate co-conspirator
("CORPORATION 1") received a series of orders for plastic pilings
from ACT and others for use in repairs to Pier 86, and
subsequently sold such plastic pilings to ACT and others.
8. It was an object of the conspiracy for KRISS to
corruptly receive a series of payments from CORPORATION 1,
intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with the
procurement of plastic pilings from CORPORATION 1 for use in
repairs to Pier 86 in the City of New York.
OVERT ACTS
9. In furtherance of the conspiracy and to accomplish its
objectives, the following overt acts, among others, were
committed by ACT and co-conspirators in the Eastern District of
New York and elsewhere:
- an officer ("CO-CONSPIRATOR A") of ACT and KRISS
attended a meeting with co-conspirators employed by
CORPORATION 1 in or about September, 1999. At this meeting
the conspirators engaged in discussions relating to the Pier
86 repair project;
- either at the aforementioned meeting or at another
time unknown to the United States, an employee of
CORPORATION 1 assured KRISS that, if CORPORATION 1 received
orders for plastic pilings, CORPORATION 1 would make
payments to KRISS approximating 10% of the value of such
orders;
- commencing in January, 2000, and continuing until
at least March, 2002, CORPORATION 1 received a series of
eleven orders from a contractor for plastic pilings intended
for use in Pier 86 repairs. These orders had an aggregate
total sale price of approximately $424,900;
- after the first three orders were placed, KRISS
told CORPORATION 1 that all subsequent orders for Pier 86
repair materials would be placed by ACT. Commencing in or
about April 2000, and continuing until at least March 2002,
ACT placed a series of at least eight orders with
CORPORATION 1 for plastic pilings, one or more of which were
placed from the Eastern District of New York;
- between approximately May, 2000 and February, 2003,
the exact dates being unknown to the United States,
CORPORATION 1 made a series of payments by check and cash on
plastic pilings orders intended for Pier 86 repairs for the
benefit of KRISS, in the manner directed by KRISS. These
payments approximated 10% of the aggregate value of Pier 86
plastic pilings orders received by CORPORATION 1. Such
payments as documented by CORPORATION 1's business records
were at least $36,380, and the total amount of such payments
is unknown to the United States;
- on or about July, 2000, KRISS, by use of an
interstate wire telephonic communication, directed
CORPORATION 1 to make future payments intended for KRISS
payable to another corporation ("CORPORATION 2").
CORPORATION 2 was a company in which CO-CONSPIRATOR A of ACT
had an interest. KRISS directed that the checks payable to
CORPORATION 2 be sent to a residential address in
Cedarhurst, New York, in the Eastern District of New York,
occupied by KRISS;
- between August, 2000, and December, 2002,
CORPORATION 1 issued at least eight checks made out to
CORPORATION 2. One or more of these checks were sent to the
address in Cedarhurst, New York via either commercial
courier or the United States Postal Service. At least five
such checks, with a total value of $13,293.47, were cashed;
- between August, 2000 and December, 2002, the exact
dates being unknown to the United States, KRISS, CO-CONSPIRATOR A and other co-conspirators met on one or more
occasions in the Eastern District of New York for the
purpose of converting checks made out to CORPORATION 2 into
cash for KRISS. The co-conspirators facilitated the cashing
of CORPORATION 2's checks and provided the proceeds thereof
to KRISS.
- CORPORATION 1 also made payments by delivering cash
and checks made out in the name of other co-conspirators to
KRISS. A co-conspirator employed by CORPORATION 1 hand-delivered payments and other things of value to KRISS on
multiple occasions between on or about July, 2000 and
February, 2003.
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
10. The crime charged in Count One of this Indictment was
carried out, in part, within the Eastern District of New York
within the five years preceding the date of this Information,
excluding the period during which the running of the statute of
limitations was suspended pursuant to agreements with the
Defendant.
(All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371)
_______________/s/________________
THOMAS O. BARNETT
Assistant Attorney General
_______________/s/________________
SCOTT D. HAMMOND
Deputy Assistant Attorney General
_______________/s/________________
MARC SIEGEL
Director of Criminal Enforcement
Antitrust Division
U.S. Department of Justice
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_______________/s/________________
LISA M. PHELAN
Chief, National Criminal
Enforcement Section
_______________/s/________________
KENNETH W. GAUL
CRAIG Y. LEE
FINNUALA M. KELLEHER
Attorneys, Antitrust Division
U.S. Department of Justice
Nat'l Crim. Enforcement Sec.
450 5th Street, NW Suite 11300
Washington, D.C. 20530
Tel.: (202) 307-6694
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