Office of the District Attorney

P. David Soares
6 Lodge Street
Albany, New York 12207
(518) 487-5460
(518) 487-5093 FAX

Albany, NY-- A contractor barred by the federal government who received more than $7 million of State construction contracts by providing false information to the Office of General Services has pled guilty to one felony count of Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree, a class D felony Albany County District Attorney David Soares announced today.

Vassilos Tsimitras,  51, of Brooklyn entered his plea in Albany County Court before Honorable Judge Thomas A. Breslin. Sentencing will be at a later date, and is anticipated to include restitution of $500,000, five years probation, and Tsimitras will be prohibited from doing business with New York State for the length of his probation.

In February 2004, State Comptroller Alan Hevesi’s Division of Investigations had found that Mr. Tsimitras lied to the State Office of General Services when he denied being debarred by the Federal Government, and that providing these false statements allowed him to obtain 73 State contracts.   Once the Comptroller’s Office made the discovery,  OGS promptly suspended Olympia. Hevesi then asked the District Attorney’s Office to investigate the two companies associated with Tsimitras, Olympia Construction and Thettalia Construction, as well as Mr. Tsimitras himself.  

As a result of an expanded investigation, in April, 2006 Tsimitras was charged in a 21-count indictment containing multiple charges of grand larceny, insurance fraud, and false filings committed by Tsimitras to deceive the State Department of Labor and the Workers Compensation Board.    The calculation of damages in this case were made difficult because the defendant did complete all of the projects he was contracted to do.

Soares said, “Our organization will do everything possible to ensure that corrupt contractors don’t profit at Albany.  This case was made possible by a true partnership between the Economic Crimes Bureau in the Albany DA’s Office and the New York State Comptroller, along with the cooperation of numerous individuals from state agencies including the Office of General Services, the Workers’ Compensation Board, and the Department of Labor.  This collaboration is absolutely essential to ensure that the integrity of the contracting process remains intact, and that the taxpayers are well served.”

Hevesi said, “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.  This settlement sends a clear signal:  Anyone who thinks they can get away with defrauding the State is making a bad mistake and they will pay.”  

Olympia Construction and Tsimitras as its owner were placed on the Federal government’s debarment list from July 2001 through July 2004 after Tsimitras attempted to bribe GSA officials and construction managers to allow an incorrectly installed support beam to remain in place.  Following the federal debarment, Olympia was awarded 41 emergency construction contracts, which are done through an expedited process.  Thettalia, Inc, over which Tsimitras retained full control as its president, received 32 contracts.  

State Comptroller investigators found that Tsimitras had provided false statements to the Office of General Services, and also uncovered serious labor issues including prevailing wage violations, potential “phantom” employees on the payroll, and potential federal and State tax violations.  Since these incidents occurred, the State Comptroller has implemented new requirements for State agencies to strengthen their reviews of contractors’ backgrounds to ensure they are responsible businesses.  


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