 |
Office of the District Attorney P. David Soares Soares Announces 21 Count Indictment of Brooklyn Contractor ALBANY , NY – District Attorney P. David Soares announced today a 21 count Indictment against VASILIOS TSIMITRAS, 50 of Brooklyn , NY . The detailed 21 count indictment includes multiple counts of False Filing, Grand Larceny, and Insurance Fraud, allegedly committed by Vasilios Tsimitiris andhis Construction Companies—Olympia and Thettalia Construction against New York State Agencies and individual laborers, in the course of obtaining and working on 73 emergency contracts worth more than 7 million dollars. In February 2004, Comptroller Alan G.Hevesi referred the findings of his Investigations Division to the Albany County District Attorney’s Office including the fact that Mr. Tsimitras had lied to the Office of General Services when he denied being debarred by the Federal Government in order to obtain lucrative contracts and requested the District Attorney’s Office to look into Olympia Construction, Thettalia Construction and its owner of the company, Vasilios Tsimitras. In addition to the counts of false filings, Mr. TSIMITRAS is also being charged with multiple counts of Insurance Fraud and Grand Larceny. Counts include: 2 Counts of Grand Larceny in the 2 nd Degree-- Class C Felony VASSILIOS TSIMITRAS was arraigned Monday Afternoon by the Hon. Stephen W. Herrick. He posted $20,000 bail and is expected back in Albany County Court on April 19 th, 2006 . Mr. Soares said, “In cases such as these, we have an individual who lied in his state emergency contract that he received. Mr. Tsmitras not only stole from taxpayers but also stole from his employees by denying them the prevailing wages for which he was charging the state. It is important to note that these cases are very complex and require the diligent work of our colleagues in law enforcement, the Investigations Unit in the Comptroller’s Office, the New York State Workman’s Compensation Board, the New York State Department of Labor, and our own Albany County District Attorney’s Office.” Comptroller Alan Hevesi added, “Today is an important victory for the taxpayers of New York . My primary goal as Comptroller is to protect taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud and abuse, and today’s indictment is very satisfying. Our Division of Investigations discovered that the accused arrogantly and repeatedly lied to obtain State contracts, and I’m grateful that David Soares and his staff have so effectively pursued justice. The accused should not have received a single penny from the State, let alone millions of dollars of lucrative contracts. My office has reformed the contract review process to identify crooked or incompetent vendors before they obtain contracts. "The combined efforts of the Workers' Compensation Board's fraud unit, the comptroller's office, the District Attorney and others helped unravel a scheme by Olympia Construction and Thettalia Construction to under-report their payroll for the purpose of illegally avoiding hundreds of thousands in workers' compensation costs," Workers' Compensation Board Fraud Inspector General John H. Burgher Jr. said. "This scheme not only enabled them to reduce comp costs, but it also allowed them to submit lower bids than their competition for various projects. These arrests should send a strong message to any unscrupulous employers contemplating similar illegal actions to reconsider or meet a similar fate. “Individuals who intentionally attempt to defraud the government by collecting unemployment insurance benefits to which they are not entitled deserve the harshest penalties under the law,” said New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Linda Angello “The system was established to help those unemployed get back on their feet, not give a free ride to individuals unwilling to work, or those who enter into government contract in an effort to defraud the public ." Back to Press Releases For further information contact: Rachel McEneny
|
|
