Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: False statements plea follows misrepresentations to EPA over kickback conspiracy, (Apr 7, 2014)

By Jeffrey May, J.D.

A co-owner of an industrial pipes, valves, and fittings distributor who pleaded guilty five years ago to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has now admitted to making false statements to the agency at a debarment proceeding in 2011, the Department of Justice has announced. Victor Boski, co-owner of National Industrial Supply, LLC of Middlesex, New Jersey, pleaded guilty on April 4 to a one-count charge of making a false statement. Boski’s plea agreement is subject to court approval (U.S. v. Boski, Case No. 2:14-cr—00180-SDW).

National Industrial Supply, which provides supplies and services to hazardous waste sites overseen by the EPA, also pleaded guilty in 2009 to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the EPA at the Federal Creosote Superfund site and to defraud a general contractor at a second New Jersey Superfund site.

According to the latest charge, at a 2011 EPA debarment hearing to determine National Industrial Supply’s future eligibility to contract with the federal government, Boski made materially false statements regarding the nature of the conduct that led to his and his company’s 2009 convictions. During the course of the hearing, in an effort to understate their culpability, Boski falsely stated that he and his company paid kickbacks in the form of sporting event tickets and that the $55,000 in kickbacks they had pleaded guilty to paying was an artificial number, it was alleged.

“When individuals plead guilty to participating in fraud and kickback schemes, it is crucial that that they do not then lie to government procurement officials about their conduct,” said Bill Baer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. “The division will vigorously prosecute individuals who make false statements regarding the crimes they have committed.”

Ongoing investigation. Both the 2009 charge and the latest charges arise from an ongoing Antitrust Division investigation into fraud and anticompetitive contracting practices at New Jersey Superfund sites. Including Boski, nine individuals and three companies have pleaded guilty or been convicted of charges arising out of the investigation, according to the Justice Department.

Last September, the Department of Justice announced that a former project manager for a prime contractor at the two Superfund sites had been found guilty of engaging in fraudulent conduct that adversely impacted the government’s competitive contracting practices at those sites. Following a two-week trial, a New Jersey jury convicted Gordon D. McDonald on 10 counts of a 12-count indictment handed down in 2009.

Attorneys: Raymond M. Brown (Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP) for Victor Boski.

Companies: National Industrial Supply, LLC

News: Antitrust AntitrustDivisionNews