Brooklyn Contractor Admits To Stiffing Workers Out Of $700K: DA

BROOKLYN, NY — A Brooklyn contractor who worked on MTA projects and school construction admitted to stiffing workers out of more than $700,000, the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said.

Red Hook-based MSR Electrical Construction Company and its owner, Michael Riglietti, of Long Beach, pled guilty Wednesday to second-degree larceny and violating state labor law, according to the D.A.'s office. Riglietti will be sentenced to five years' probation, and he and his company will be disbarred from public works projects, the office said.

They will also forfeit $2.5 million that will be paid out in penalties and to workers.

"These defendants got lucrative public works contracts and then shamefully stole money from their own employees," Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Adams said in a statement. "In Brooklyn, we will not allow hard-earned wages to be stolen from hardworking employees. This decision to steal wages turned out to be a very costly theft for these defendants and should serve as notice to others considering cheating employees that they will be prosecuted."

Riglietti and MSR scored 15 public works contracts between December 2012 and December 2015, the D.A.'s office said. The New York City School Construction Authority hired the firm to do electrical work in 13 schools including four in Brooklyn — P.S. 164 and P.S. 767 in Borough Park, and P.S. 297 and I.S. 49 in Williamsburg.

They also did work for the MTA at four locations in Manhattan and Queens and did work at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens.

The firm stole more than $700,000 in contract revenue that should have been paid to employees, the D.A.'s office said.

Riglietti and MSR certified that they had paid five electricians $54 per hour plus over time, when in reality, they had been paid just $13.50 to $25 per hour with no over time or benefits, the D.A.'s office said.

"MSR inflated its contract costs and submitted phony bills in an attempt to defraud the public," New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said in a statement. "Thanks to my office’s investigation and partnership with Kings County District Attorney Gonzalez, this fraud was exposed and the taxpayers’ money recovered. I will continue to partner with the Kings County District Attorney and law enforcement statewide to expose corruption and protect taxpayer resources at all levels of government."

Of the $2.5 million in fines, more than $700,000 will be used to pay back workers, while $500,000 will be paid in penalties. Various payments will go to the city and state agencies affected by the fraud, and the rest will be forfeited to the D.A.'s office.

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