Convicted union
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
By JOE RYAN

boss to see a

cell for bribery

THE STAR-LEDGER

The head of a Springfield-based union local was sentenced yesterday to three years and 10 months in federal prison for embezzlement and bribery tied to the building of the Goldman Sachs office tower in Jersey City.

Kenneth Campbell, of Basking Ridge, had risen from a crane operator to the business agent of Local 825 of the International Union of Operating Engineers. He admitted in October to taking more than $250,000 in kickbacks and stealing union money to buy himself big-screen televisions and a home theater system as well as a 2004 Lincoln Town Car for his father.

"I wish I had stayed a crane operator," Campbell, 57, said, his husky voice cracking as he stood before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler.

Chesler ordered Campbell to pay a $40,000 fine and about $247,000 in restitution to the union.

The crime, the judge said, was more than a lapse in judgment. "It was sheer unmitigated greed," Chesler said.

Campbell was among several union officials charged with collecting $156,000 in payoffs between 2001 and 2003 from plumbing, backhoe, structural steel and window contractors during construction of the Goldman Sachs office tower, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Moscato said.

In exchange, the contractors were allowed to circumvent collective bargaining agreements, hire non-union workers and ignore requirements dictating how many operators should work on each piece of equipment.

Campbell, whose father Patrick Campbell ran the union before him, was ultimately responsible for the scheme, prosecutors said.

"He treated the union like his own personal kingdom," Moscato said.

Campbell began working for Local 825 about 40 years ago. That was around the time when the group's earlier leader - Peter W. Weber - was sent to prison for bribery.

"You should have learned from that," Chesler told Campbell. "Instead you are standing in front of me."

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New Jersey IUOE boss sentenced to three years in prison

28 January 2009

The head of a New Jersey union that includes crane operators, IUOE Local 82, has been sentenced to three years in prison for bribery. It is just one of three corruption prosecutions in the New York City construction industry.

The New Jersey Star-Ledger reports that former crane operator Kenneth Campbell, of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, had become the heawas fined $287,000 for bribery. construction contractors on a Goldman Sachs office tower in Jersey City, New Jersey.

In October 2008, Campbell plead guilty to the charges of embezzling four televisions, a Lincoln Town Car, demanding and receiving unlawful labour payments on the Goldman Sachs office tower in Jersey City, New Jersey, the Jersey City Golf Course Project, and for demanding and receiving cash in exchange for union admittance, according to court documents.

In a written plea to the judge to reduce his sentence submitted in January, his lawyer Brian Neary said: "Mr Campbell exercised extremely poor judgement by following along with the dishonesty that was part-in-parcel with the position he attained at the union. While he did not invent the schemes that went on here, regretfully, he participated in them."

In August 2008, IUOE Local 14 agreed to Federal oversight after after the US Eastern District of New York court made a civil suit against the organisation in late July on charges of links with racketeering and corruption.

In October, a New York City grand jury indicted the owner of Long Island's Nu-Way Cranes Services, Michael Sackaris, and former crane inspector James Delayo, on charges related to bribery.

http://www.cranestodaymagazine.com/st ... 135&storycode=2051993&c=1

Punishment for Downtown shakedown

Thursday, September 25, 2008
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A former union local president involved in the construction of Jersey City's Goldman Sachs tower has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for shaking down contractors on the waterfront project for $112,000 in bribes, authorities said.

"Corruption is the mortal enemy of a labor unions and will be aggressively investigated and prosecuted by the federal government," Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Moscato said last week about Tuesday's sentencing of Peter O. Strannemar, 66, of Blairstown.
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Strannemar, the former president of Local 825 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, was also fined $20,000 by U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler, officials said.

Strannemar admitted in May that beginning in 2001, he conspired with engineer Anthony Mann and Local 825 Business Agent Craig Wask to shake down two contractors for cash and other items, officials said. Strannemar also admitted that in 2004 he filed a federal tax return that concealed about $50,000 in income, officials said.

Mann pleaded guilty in May, and Wask pleaded guilty in March, Muscato said, adding that both await sentencing.

Strannemar acknowledged that he and his co-conspirators unlawfully received about $112,000 in labor bribes from steel and plumbing companies.

He also admitted getting free household appliances, valued at approximately $1,900, from the plumbing company, and said the appliances were delivered to his home by Mann, officials said.

The contractors building the state's tallest building were not identified.

The U.S. Attorney's Office has been investigating the union for well over a year, officials said.

Strannemar remains free on bail pending his surrender to the federal Bureau of Prisons on a date to be determined, Muscato said.

Indictment targets ex-union official
Former business manager in Springfield accused of spending local's cash

Friday, June 27, 2008
BY GUY STERLING
Star-Ledger Staff

The former business manager of a beleaguered union local in Springfield, already under indictment, is facing new charges of spending the local's money on extravagant expenditures.

A superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Newark charged Kenneth P. Campbell with using a union credit card to purchase thousands of dollars worth of electronic equipment and getting the local to buy a Lincoln Town Car for his father and a gas card for personal use by a woman who worked at the union.

The purchases exceeded $50,000, with the Town Car accounting for 37,000.

"The indictment alleges Mr. Campbell used the union to benefit himself at the expense of the union and its membership, contrary to his fiduciary duties to the union," said Anthony Moscato Jr., the assistant U.S. attorney handling the case.

Campbell, 56, of Basking Ridge, was initially named in a four-count indictment unsealed in March that charged him and another official of Local 825 of the International Union of Operating Engineers with accepting kickbacks in exchange for labor peace on two Jersey City construction projects.

More than a half-dozen officials or representatives of the local, including its former president, along with some contractors, have pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges in recent months, leading the local to be placed in trusteeship by IUOE officials in Washington.

Moscato said the investigation was ongoing and that he expects additional charges will snare new defendants in the coming months.

The latest indictment, released late Wednesday, adds more than a dozen charges to the March accusation, most of them alleging Campbell used a union-issued American Express credit card to buy big-screen TVs, a television stand, DVD players, a DVD recorder, camcorders, a Tivo, a receiver, cell phone service and a laptop computer.

The cell phone service included access to the "Naked News," a news show featuring nude broadcasters, the indictment charged.

All the equipment was purchased for use by Campbell and others between September 2004 and February 2007, according to the indictment.

Campbell was also charged with buying three $500 bottles of wine at an Atlantic City steakhouse on July 17, 2006. Federal prosecutors declined to describe the circumstances of the dinner.

Brian Neary, Campbell's lawyer, did not return a call for comment.

The Town Car was purchased for Campbell's father, Patrick, a former business manager of Local 825 who retired in 1998. The 80-year-old Campbell had no union duties after retirement, although he was given the title "business manager emeritus," the indictment said. He was also named as a defendant in the latest accusations.

The indictment alleges the woman who got the gas card had a "personal relationship" with Campbell, but it did not identify her other than to say she was a member of the staff at the local's headquarters in Springfield.

She "was neither required to conduct off-site field work nor travel as part of her job," legal documents added. The indictment said the woman used the card from December of last year until this past April, running up more than $1,636 in charges.

Gotta love NJ:

Union officials receiving bribes by developers being arrested by cops on the take and prosecuted by crooked DA's when presenting cases to "bought" judges.

Paging Tony Soprano...or more likely, Sam the Plumber.

Former union official pleads guilty to bribery charges

By Matt Friedman

The former president of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825 pleaded guilty today to accepting bribes and tax evasion, according to a press release form the U.S. Attorney?s office.

Peter O. Strannemar, 66, pleaded guilty to demanding and accepting about $112,000 in bribes from two contractors doing work on the Goldman Sachs Tower construction project in Jersey City beginning in 2001.

Anthony Mann, a top engineer on the project, also pleaded guilty to taking bribes.

A third defendant, union Business Manager Anthony Campbell, who both Strannemar and Mann said they shared the bribes with, is awaiting trial.

http://www.politickernj.com/matt-frie ... ds-guilty-bribery-charges

Ex-construction union aide admits contractor bribes

Thursday, March 27, 2008
BY GUY STERLING
Star-Ledger Staff

The former business agent of a construction workers' local yesterday admitted taking tens of thousands of dollars in a series of bribes from contractors in exchange for labor peace and cutting back on the number of employees assigned to different work sites.

Craig Wask, 60, of Montvale, Bergen County, also told U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark that he shared some of the cash with other ranking officials of Local 825 of the International Union of Operating Engineers. In all, the bribes exceeded $200,000, federal prosecutors said.

Yesterday's plea by Wask represented another victory for the government in its campaign to clean up Local 825, which is based in Springfield and enjoys a membership of close to 8,000 equipment operators, mechanics and surveyors. Wask was its business agent from at least 2000 to 2006, said Anthony Moscato Jr., the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case.

Earlier this month, Kenneth P. Campbell, 56, of Basking Ridge, the local's business manager, and Peter O. Strannemar, 66, of Blairstown, its onetime president, were arrested and charged with taking bribes in an unsealed indictment. Both were implicated in the bribe scheme yesterday by Wask.

Wask pleaded guilty yesterday to seven counts of conspiracy to demand and receive illegal labor payments that were contained in a charging document known as a superseding information.

He faces a maximum penalty of 35 years in prison and more than $1 million in fines. Sentencing was scheduled for July.

The first count of the charges accused Wask and his co-conspirators of collecting more than $150,000 in bribes from a steel erector company, plumbing company, window company and plow company for work on a high-rise commercial building at 30 Hudson St. in Jersey City between May 2001 and July 2003.

Wask also said he received $5,000 in August 2003 from a steel erector company during construction of a parking garage in Bergen County and more than $100,000 from a construction company building homes and a golf course in Jersey City.

Money from the second project was divvied up with Campbell between May 2003 and May 2006, he alleged.

Another count of the information accused Wask of taking $13,000 in cash in 2006 for help in steering a contract to a construction company for a project that was in progress near the Meadowlands. He said he turned over a large chunk of the money to Local 825's lead engineer at the site.

Wask also acknowledged getting bribes from the local's lead engineer on a construction project in Jersey City between March 2001 and August 2002. He said the money came from Blue Ridge Erectors and was given so the company wouldn't have to employ Local 825 members to operate welding machines.

Frank Impeciati, 58, of Bangor, Pa., pleaded guilty yesterday to making the payments to the engineer, identified only as "G.H." He faces a year in prison and fines up to $100,000.

The final two counts charged Wask with taking $6,000 on two occasions in 2003 and 2004 for helping get five individuals admitted into the local, splitting the money with Campbell.

Two others who pleaded guilty in similar bribery conspiracies earlier this month were Michael O. Giangrande, 56, of Bloomfield, and Manuel Pinto, 39, of Hillside.

Their conspiracy involved a payment of $750 so that Pinto's masonry company could install curbs during construction of a home improvement store in East Rutherford without using union labor. Giangrande, Local 825's lead engineer on the project, admitted taking the money, and Pinto admitted giving it.

Former union leader admits taking bribes

The Associated Press
Mar. 26, 2008

NEWARK, N.J. - A former union leader says he and others took $150,000 in bribes for labor peace from contractors.

As a result, the contractors did not have to hire as many members of Local 825 of the International Union of Operating Engineers for work at a project in Jersey City.

The guilty pleas Wednesday by Craig Wask to seven conspiracy counts means he could face time in federal prison. Each count carries up to five years in federal prison.

Three others have also pleaded guilty in the case.

Local 825 represents about 7,000 construction equipment operators, mechanics and surveyors.

===========================

On the Net:

U.S. Attorney's Office: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nj/press/index.html

Not sure how this relates to anything but the International Union of Operating Engineers ( Local 825) gave $50,000 to help sell Corzine's new fiscal plan.

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Group formed to sell Corzine fiscal plan has raised $1M

by Tom Feeney/The Star-Ledger
Friday March 07, 2008, 5:37 PM

A group formed to champion Gov. Jon Corzine's financial restructuring plan has raised just over $1 million so far, nearly half of it from the governor's own pocket, according to a disclosure it issued late this afternoon.

The group, Save Our State NJ Inc., lists 14 contributions, ranging from the $500,000 Corzine gave himself to the $50 contributed by its executive director, Jennifer Godoski.

Most of the contributions in between were made by contractors and unions. There are 14 contributions in all, and they total $1,006,300, Godoski said.

Save Our State NJ will run a campaign to educate the public about the state's financial troubles and the need for change.

Corzine has proposed a restructuring plan that includes a spending freeze, debt limits and a very unpopular effort to raise money by boosting tolls and leasing the state's toll roads to a non-profit public company.

In recent weeks, the governor has acknowledged his toll plan does not have enough support in the Legislature to become law and has said he would consider alternatives.

Godoski said Save Our State NJ has not done any advertising yet.

"We've been letting the debate mature," she said.

"Our mission is financial restructuring and debt reduction. We recognize there's more than one way to skin a cat. If the Legislature can accomplish that using another method, God bless them."

This is the complete list of contributors released by Save Our State NJ:

Jennifer Godoski, $50; Governor Jon S. Corzine, $500,000; New Jersey Laborer's Employers' Cooperation and Education Trust, $100,000; Ironworkers Local 68, $12,500; District Council Northern NJ Ironworks, $87,500; Construction Industry Advancement Program of New Jersey, $100,000; Masonry Contractors of New Jersey, $10,000.

Also, New Jersey Labor Management Committee, $10,000; BAC Administrative District Council of NJ, 25,000; IBEW Local 164,$100,000; Blair MacInnes, $5,000; Stephen E. Morgan, $1,000; Sivaraman Anbarasan, $250; International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825, $50,000; Magla Products, LLC, $5,000.
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Forgive me, but was the tower started before or after Corzine left Goldman Sachs?

Also, was it built before or after Henry Paulson left Goldman Sachs?

And did those guys really have anything to do with the selection of the bribe-making contractors, or is some other, higher level contractor really responsible for all of this?

THIS does not surprise me in the least!!

Two union execs accused in payoffs
Operating engineers officials allegedly took $200,000 to keep labor peace

Wednesday, March 12, 2008
BY RUDY LARINI
Star-Ledger Staff

The business manager and a former president of a New Jersey operating engineers union were arrested yesterday and charged with accepting roughly $200,000 in kickbacks for labor peace on two Jersey City construction projects.

A four-count indictment unsealed yesterday charges Kenneth P. Campbell, 56, of Basking Ridge, business manager of Local 825 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, and Peter O. Strannemar, 66, of Blairstown with conspiracy and violations of federal law in accepting the bribes from contractors on the Jersey City projects.

Strannemar also was accused of accepting household appliances from one contractor for his cabin in New York state, while Campbell was charged with accepting $6,000 to allow three relatives of the general contractor on one of the projects to join the union without ascertaining whether they could operate heavy equipment.

The indictment names two unindicted co-conspirators, a former business agent for Local 825 and the lead engineer on one of the projects, as conduits for the payments to Campbell and Strannemar from the unnamed contractors, a structural steel company and a plumbing contractor. Local 825 represents 7,000 construction equipment operators in New Jersey.

Campbell and Strannemar, who stepped down as Local 825 president a year ago, are accused of accepting at least $88,000 from the steel contractor and $23,600 from the plumbing contractor during construction of the 42-story Goldman Sachs office tower, known as "30 Hudson," on the Jersey City waterfront overlooking Manhattan.

The indictment alleges that in exchange for the kickbacks, Campbell and Strannemar allowed the steel company to use fewer crane operators than union rules required, while the plumbing contractor was allowed to use non-union labor for some jobs, such as unloading trucks with forklifts, cranes and booms.

Campbell also was accused of accepting at least $100,000 -- in monthly installments of $2,000 to $4,000 -- for allowing the general contractor and some subcontractors to use non-union labor during construction of a golf course and residential development near Liberty State Park.

Campbell and Strannemar were released yesterday on $100,000 bail set by U.S. Magistrate Esther Salas. The charges they face carry penalties of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Defense lawyers for the pair professed both men's innocence.

"We'll enter not-guilty pleas and vindicate him of these charges," said Brian Neary, the attorney for Campbell.

"We deny the charges and we will be prepared to defend him," said Strannemar's lawyer, Richard Regan.

The contractors are not named in the indictment and the former business-agent co-conspirator is identified only as "C.W." The investigation, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Moscato, is continuing.

"It is an ongoing investigation into union corruption," he said.

Last August, a former Local 825 business agent, Craig Wask, 60, of Montvale, was indicted on charges of accepting $90,000 in payoffs from the president of the steel company Blue Ridge Erectors of Bangor, Pa., for allowing the use of non-union labor during construction of a Jersey City office tower.

Moscato said he could not confirm that Wask was the "C.W." in yesterday's indictment.

"However, this office previously has indicted Craig Wask, a former Local 825 business agent, for accepting unlawful labor payments," Moscato said.

Attempts to reach Wask yesterday were unsuccessful.

Rudy Larini may be reached at rlarini@starledger.com or (973) 392-4253.