Queens Contracting Firm Indicted For Shorting Salaries
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The Manhattan district attorney's office announced charges Wednesday against a Long Island City-based contractor accused of defrauding its employees.
Three executives of the contracting firm M.A. Angeliades and three of the company's employees were indicted on charges of stealing $600,000.
The district attorney's office accused the company of shorting employees on salary and benefits between 2005 and 2007 while they worked on nearly a dozen contracts with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to upgrade subway stations.
Investigators say there could be more charges.
"If a contractor is stealing in one area, there are other areas," said MTA Inspector General Barry L. Kluger. "So it's obviously our responsibility in MTA to look back at these contracts to look at the execution of the contracts to see if there were any direct losses that may have been affected against the MTA, in terms of change orders, overcharging, over-billing."
M.A. Angeliades currently has a $94 million contract with the MTA to upgrade the Bleecker Street station.
A special overseer is keeping a close eye on the company's work, and there are no plans for the MTA to end the contract.
NY1 reached out to the company for a response, but representatives had no comment. The station also reached out to the company's lawyer for comment and was awaiting a response.