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Press Release

General Foreman At Port Elizabeth Arrested For Salary Fraud

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. – A member of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and general foreman for a Port Elizabeth terminal operator was arrested this morning for fraudulently collecting a nearly $500,000 annual salary, much of which was for work he never performed, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Paul Moe Sr., 66, of Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, is charged in an indictment with one count of wire fraud conspiracy and 13 substantive counts of wire fraud. He appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre in Newark federal court and was released on $250,000 unsecured bond. He will be arraigned at a later date.

According to the indictment:

From September 2015 through March 2017, Moe fraudulently collected a compensation package that paid him almost $500,000 annually while showing up at his job site for as little as eight hours per week. In order for Moe to collect his $9,300 weekly paycheck, other conspirators submitted false timesheets each day on his behalf and even credited him for up to 16 hours of overtime a day. The 13 substantive wire fraud counts consist of one-week increments in which Moe – having either failed to appear at the job site or while being out of state or out of the country – was paid as if he had been on the job for a minimum of 40 hours a week.

Each count is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charges and allegations in the indictment are merely accusations, and Moe is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents and investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations-Labor Racketeering and Fraud, New York Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael C. Mikulka; the Office of Employee Benefit Security Act (EBSA), under the direction of Regional Director Jonathan Kay, the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, under the direction of Executive Director Walter M. Arsenault, and the Office of Labor Management Standards, under the supervision of District Director Andriana Vamvakas, with the investigation.

The government is represented by Senior Litigation Counsel V. Grady O’Malley and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracey Agnew.

Defense counsel: Gerald McMahon Esq., New York

Updated July 20, 2017

Attachment
Press Release Number: 17-274