Nassau Contractor Forged Documents, Didn't Pay Workers: DA

MASSAPEQUA, NY — A Massapequa contractor was arrested Tuesday after the Suffolk County district attorney said he falsified information on bids to do public work and didn't pay worker benefits.

Nicholas Analitis, 44, of Masspequa, and his company, Gorilla Contracting Group, LLC, based in West Babylon, are each charged with eight counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, 10 counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and failure to pay prevailing wages. If convicted of the top charge, Analitis faces up to seven years in prison.

“These defendants filed false information in an attempt to win contracts over companies that play by the rules,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini. “In the contracts they were awarded under false pretenses, which were funded with taxpayer dollars, they did not pay their workers their fair share. We will not tolerate the exploitation of workers in this County, particularly on the taxpayers’ dime.”

According to Sini, between April 2020 and February 2021, Analitis and his company gave fraudulent Surety and Performance Bonds to municipalities across Suffolk County as part of bid packages to get contracts for public works projects. Analitis also falsely listed other peoples' names as the managing partner and owner of Gorilla Contracting, Sini said.

Sini said that an investigation by his office found that Analitis filed false bids for multiple projects, including the Town of Babylon’s Carlls River Watershed Project; the Town of Islip’s MacArthur Airport runway reconstruction; the Village of Babylon’s Argyle Falls project; and public works projects for the Port Jefferson School District and the West Islip School District.

According to Sini, on one occasion, Analitis forged the name of the manager of Gorilla Contracting to represent the company as a minority- or woman-owned business to the Village of Babylon.

In addition to the fraud, Sini said that Analitis and his company were awarded contracts with the Village of Babylon and West Islip School District in which workers were not paid supplemental benefits, which is required by law to Laborers Local 1298 workers. Sini said his office's investigation into the non-payment is ongoing.

As part of bids to the Towns of Babylon and Islip, Sini said that Analitis claimed that Gorilla Contracting had an apprenticeship agreement with the union, which it did not.

Analitis was arraigned in Suffolk County District Court and released on supervised release. He is due back in court on Sept. 9.