For Immediate Release:         For Further Information Contact:
July 18, 2008                                                  Peter Aseltine (609) 292-4791

 MERCER COUNTY PAINTING CONTRACTOR INDICTED ON CHARGES HE FALSIFIED
A STATE REGISTRATION TO OBTAIN PUBLIC CONTRACTS

TRENTON – Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Deborah Gramiccioni announced that a Mercer County painting contractor has been indicted on charges he falsified a state registration certificate in order to work on five public contracts after his registration had been revoked.

According to Director Gramiccioni, George M. Vanicsko Jr., 52, of Yardley, Pa., and his company, Vanko Painting/Coating Inc., located in Ewing, N.J., were each indicted by a state grand jury on July 14 on four counts of second-degree false representation for a government contract and a single count of third-degree false representation for a government contract.

 The case was referred to the Division of Criminal Justice by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance, which initially investigated the alleged fraud.  In addition to the registration revocation, Vanicsko was later debarred from working on public contracts for three years beginning in 2008 because of his failure to maintain and provide to the labor department payroll records required under the Prevailing Wage Act.

“We will continue to work with the Department of Labor to investigate and prosecute contractors who attempt to skirt state laws and regulations through fraud,” said Attorney General Milgram.

“When employers break the rules to get an unfair leg up on their competition, the people of New Jersey are the ones who suffer.  This indictment demonstrates that the State of New Jersey is serious about protecting workers and taxpayers by enforcing our wage and hour laws,” said New Jersey Labor Commissioner David J. Socolow.  “Strong criminal penalties are appropriate due to the egregious nature of this case, in which a construction contractor that had previously had its contractor registration certificate revoked and was prohibited from performing on publicly-funded projects allegedly sought to avoid these penalties by misrepresenting its eligibility and by falsifying documents to continue working on public contracts.”

On Sept. 20, 2006, Vanicsko and Vanko had their public works contractor registrations revoked by the labor commissioner for one year because Vanicsko made material misrepresentations on Vanko’s registration renewal application.  A valid registration from the labor department is required to work on public contracts in the state. An administrative law judge found Vanicsko failed to disclose his financial interest in another company, V.W. Painting, which also performed government contracts.

Vanicsko and Vanko were required to cease work on any public contracts and not bid or perform work on any new public contracts.  However, the indictment alleges that Vanicsko instead altered the expiration date on an old registration certificate for Vanko so that the company could obtain two new public contracts and continue work on three others.  Vanicsko allegedly provided the altered certificate to the general contractors on the projects.

The new contracts included a $98,500 subcontract for work at the Cresskill Junior Senior High School and a $46,000 subcontract for work at the High Mountain School in North Haledon.  The ongoing contracts included a $195,000 subcontract for work at Harrison High School, a $150,000 subcontract for work at West New York Public School #4, and a $23,000 subcontract for work at the Lakehurst Emergency Management Facility.

When the fraud was uncovered, the labor department ordered that Vanko be removed from the job sites.  The disruption to the projects that resulted from the alleged fraud cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

Detective Gary O’Brien conducted the investigation for the Division of Criminal Justice Major Crimes Bureau. He was assisted by Senior Field Representative Marc A. Goldberg of the Department of Labor, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance.  Deputy Attorney General Valerie Noto presented the case to the state grand jury.

Second-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison and a criminal fine of $150,000, while third-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of five years in state prison and a $15,000 criminal fine.  The indictment is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The indictment was handed up to Superior Court Judge Gerald J. Council in Mercer County. The defendants will be ordered to appear in Superior Court in Mercer County at a later date to answer the charges.

A copy of the indictment is linked to this press release at www.njpublicsafety.com.

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