Landscaping Exec. Admits to Fraud Schemes, Accepts Responsibility

JOHNSTON, RI—A landscaping company executive has pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and falsification of documents for a scheme to avoid paying union benefits for employees who worked on federal highway projects in Rhode Island.

Steven F. Pagliarini, 57, admitted in U.S. District Court in Providence this week that he orchestrated the scheme by submitting false documents to union welfare and pension administrators for two unions representing workers of Central Landscaping in Johnston, where he is an executive vice president and treasurer.

Also the executive vice president of Central Nurseries in Chepachet and Johnston, Pagliarini confessed that the documents “did not accurately reflect the actual number of hours worked by some employees and the actual amount of wages paid to those employees,” said U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha in a news release.

In another scheme, Pagliarini falsely reported to the state Department of Labor and Training that employees of Central Nurseries had been laid off because of a lack of work at the same time he demanded the employees work part time and “he did not pay them,” Neronha said. “Based on documents filed with RIDLT, employees were paid a total of $68,487 in unemployment compensation.”

Pagliarini pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith to three counts of falsification of documents and one count of wire fraud. He will be sentenced on April 15.

The employees affected by the false reporting of hours and wages to the unions worked on federally-funded projects at the Hartford Park Project in Providence and the I-195 Relocation Project between 2007 and 2010.

The employees for Central nurseries who were forced to work part-time and collect unemployment worked from November 2009 through April 2010.

In a statement, Pagliarini’s lawyer, J. Richard Ratcliffe, said that his client “accepts responsibility for the charges against him. Throughout the investigation, the company has been cooperative and will be making restitution.”

“While the charges pertain to employee benefits, it is important to note that at no time did any of our employees go without benefits,”Ratcliffe said. “During the period in question, we still paid out more than $3.1 million dollars in benefits to our employees.”

In a press release entitled “Central Nurseries Continues Moving Forward,” Ratcliffe said that corrective actions have been in place since 2011 including the voluntary hiring of a full-time human resources manager and “engaging a labor attorney to ensure full compliance with all current laws and regulations.

“Central Nurseries is a third generation family-owned and operated landscape nursery and construction business. It is important to note that during the period in question, and ever since, Central Nurseries completed all projects and the quality of service was never compromised,” the release stated. “In the spring of this year, Central Nurseries will mark 80 years of service to Southern New England.”

Photo courtesy: Central Nurseries