October 13, 2005

DILLON ANNOUNCES:

PREVAILING WAGE ARRESTS

Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon announced today that the DA’s Criminal Frauds Bureau has arrested Ahmad Siddiqui, 54, of 4 Springwood Drive, Monroe Township, New Jersey, and Pete Dimitropolous, 50, of 14807 11th Avenue, Whitestone, and Gary Spinelli, 42, of 56 Ramapo Avenue, Staten Island, and has charged C/S Window Installers, Inc., located at 537 Wild Avenue, Staten Island, G.A.N. Contracting Inc., located at 4168 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island and Dima Contracting Corp., located at 34-35 56th Street, Woodside.

According to Dillon, "C/S Windows Installers, Inc. of Staten Island was hired in August 2004 as a non-union subcontractor to install windows at Bethpage High School in Bethpage. New York's Prevailing Rate of Wage statute required C/S Windows to submit weekly certified payrolls to the prime contractor, Architectural Windows of New Jersey, which submitted these payrolls to the Bethpage Union Free School District to get paid."

"Our investigation discovered that from August 2004 through November 2004, C/S Windows did not pay its workers the prevailing wage, which is $57.53 per hour" said Dillon. "They paid some workers an hourly base wage as low as $15.00/hour with no supplemental benefits. The certified payrolls also listed the names of workers who apparently do not exist and were given social security numbers assigned to other people. Gary Spinelli, 56 Ramapo Avenue, Staten Island, N.Y., was the foreman for C/S Windows on the Bethpage job and the owner/operator of G.A.N. Contracting Co. G.A.N. Contracting also submitted payrolls to the prime contractor and listed fictitious workers with phony social security numbers."

Gary Spinelli, C/S Window Installers Inc., and G.A.N. Contracting Co. have been charged separately with one count of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree and one count of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, both Class E Felonies, punishable by up to four years in prison.

"In the second set of arrests, Ahmad Siddiqui, DBA Sea Breeze General Construction, Panagiotis (Pete) Dimitropolous and Dima Contracting Corporation are also facing felony charges stemming from an investigation done by my office into the failure to pay workers the prevailing wage," said Dillon. "Our investigation revealed that Ahmad Siddiqui owner of Sea Breeze General Construction Corp. submitted false certified payroll records on a prevailing wage project for the renovation of 200 North Franklin Ave. an office building owned by the Town of Hempstead. The certified payrolls never listed employees who consistently worked at the site. Furthermore, they listed other workers on dates that they did not work. Finally, the workers who do not appear on the certified payroll records have shown that they did not get paid the prevailing wage."

"Dima Construction owned by Pete Dimitropolous, acting as a subcontractor on this job, also contributed to the failure to pay the prevailing wage," said Dillon. " Dimitropolous accepted large checks from Sea Breeze, cashed these checks and paid the workers in cash with this money. The certified records submitted by Sea Breeze and signed by Siddiqui contain false information that they paid the workers the prevailing wage and that they took out the appropriate taxes. Our investigation revealed that Ahmad Siddiqui knowingly submitted false records to conceal the fact that Dimitropolous and his corporation Dima Construction failed to pay the workers the prevailing wage."

Dimitropolous and Dima Construction Corp. and Ahmad Siddiqui are charged with Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree and Falsification of Business Records in the First Degree, both Class E Felonies, punishable by up to four years in prison. Ahmad Siddiqui (DBA Sea Breeze) has been charged with Willful Failure to Pay the Prevailing Wage, an Unclassified Misdemeanor.

"This is not a victimless crime," Dillon continued. "Honest contractors who pay their workers the correct wage report they can no longer compete in the public sector. As a direct result, New York workers find that they cannot participate in construction projects for schools, libraries and fire districts. Experience has also shown that contractors who underpay their workers and forge payroll transcripts take other shortcuts as well. Because the wages are so exceptionally low, many workers lack the skills necessary to ply their trade. Dishonest contractors, who are aware of the these shortcomings often go to great lengths to conceal their mistakes. This, in turn, leads to substandard construction that poses a danger to the public."

"Wages and hours fraud has become a serious problem at public works projects in the State of New York," said Dillon. "Corrupt contractors, many of whom prey on newly arrived immigrants, are paying exceptionally low wages, withholding supplements, and failing to obtain worker’s compensation insurance for their employees."

"Recognizing the importance of this area of the law, I devoted resources in my office to the aggressive investigation and prosecution of prevailing wage violations," said Dillon. "The prevailing wage law is nearly one hundred years old, and despite many amendments over the years, its civil and criminal enforcement provisions were not up to the task. In May of 2005, New York Senator Charles Fuschillo and New York State Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli introduced legislation in their respective houses that I had drafted, which would bring this area of the law into the 21st century. I am happy to report that one of my key proposals, holding subcontractors liable to pay the prevailing wage, passed both the State Senate and Assembly. As of yesterday it is now law."

"I would like to thank the Town of Hempstead and Bethpage High School for all of their assistance during the course of this investigation," said Dillon.

All defendants will be arraigned later today in First District Court in Hempstead. The charges are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.