Manayunk Contractor Defrauded Healthcare Union, Pandemic Relief Programs

MANAYUNK, PHILADELPHIA — A man who operated and co-owned a Manayunk construction company defrauded a local chapter of a healthcare worker union, according to federal authorities.

Tracy Hardy, 52, of Philadelphia, recently pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and one count of making a false claim upon the United States in federal court, prosecutors said.

Hardy was also the co-owner and operator of a construction company, Manayunk Construction & Development Corporation.

According to authorities, Hardy in January 2019 emailed an officer of District 1199C, a local chapter of the National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees.

The chapter was looking for a construction company to renovate the bar area inside its union hall, located on the 1300 block of Locust Street in Philadelphia.

The email contained a bid on the letterhead of Manayunk Construction for renovating the bar in the union hall, with the total cost listed at $47,490.

Then in February 2019, Hardy then gave the officer a new bid from Manayunk Construction that was nearly double the initial amount, federal authorities said.

This new bid accounted for some additional work to be done, as well as generating tens of thousands of dollars in proceeds for the benefit of Hardy and the officer.

But Hardy also submitted two other bids that he falsely and fraudulently created, purporting to be from two independent companies. Those bids were created by Hardy and were entirely fabricated, according to authorities.

Hardy’s bid from Manayunk Construction offered the lowest price of the three bids that he submitted.

In March 2019, the Executive Board of District 1199C voted to award the contract for the bar renovation project to Manayunk Construction, based on its low bid of $139,790.

Manayunk Construction subsequently completed the bar renovation project and Hardy, through his company, was paid more than $150,000, an amount that was fraudulently inflated by at least $45,000, authorities said.

Hardy also participated in a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration and multiple SBA-approved lenders participating in the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, established as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

Authorities said through this, he got more than $2 million in pandemic relief funds by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.