Wall-Based Contractor Facing Charges Of Theft, Misconduct: AG

WALL, NJ – Acting Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor announced Wednesday that a Monmouth County general contractor had been charged with corporate misconduct and theft for allegedly misappropriating more than $139,000 in payments he received to build retail spaces in airports in Dallas and Austin, Texas.

Theodore M. Vitale, 63, of Brielle, who owns Petore Associates, Inc., (d/b/a Petore Construction) in Wall, was indicted on second-degree charges of misconduct by a corporate official and theft by failure to make required disposition of property received, and third-degree theft by deception in connection with the airport construction projects.

In July and August 2016, Atlanta-based retail merchant Paradies Lagardère, which operates stores, bars, and restaurants in airports across North America, hired Petore Construction as its general contractor on various retail construction projects at Austin-Bergstrom and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airports.

As the general contractor, Petore Construction was authorized to contract with various subcontractors to perform the work, paying them from monies the general contractor received from Paradies Lagardère.

Over the course of several months, Vitale, as sole owner and operator of Petore Construction, allegedly received $139,735 from Paradies Lagardère to pay a subcontractor for construction and electrical services on a 7-11 at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and a Second Bar + Kitchen in the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport but never paid the subcontractor what it was owed for its work on these two airport projects.

Vitale also allegedly charged and received $3,500 from Paradies Lagardère as a premium for a payment bond and a performance bond, neither of which he procured.

The second-degree charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000, and the third-degree crime carries a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $15,000.