A former Metro-North manager was indicted Friday for accepting $70,000 in kickbacks to funnel more than $10 million in contracts to a waste removal company hired to clean up Grand Central Terminal.
James Berlangero, 62, a former contract manager at Metro-North, is facing charges for his role in a bribery and bid-rigging scheme announced Friday by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.
Also indicted were Michael Rodgers, 62, the owner and CEO of WRS Environmental Services and WRS’ business director, Thomas Willis, 60, prosecutors say.
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“Armed with confidential information like competitors’ price proposals and evaluations, WRS Environmental Services was able to win contracts valued at more than $10 million, all thanks to their inside man,” Vance said.
The three face charges of bribery, bribe receiving and corrupting the government.
“These individuals shamelessly lined their pockets at the expense of riders, taxpayers and Metro-North by criminally sharing confidential and competitive project information to undercut the competition,” said MTA Inspector General, Carolyn Pokorny.
Prosecutors say Rodgers wrote checks totaling $32,000 for Berlangero’s residential mortgage and gave $10,000 to Berlangero’s brother-in-law for an auto racing sponsorship. And, they say, Berlangero secured a job for his daughter at WRS.
Berlangero, of Glen Cove, worked out of an office in midtown Manhattan where his job was to ensure the integrity of the railroad’s bidding contracts.
Instead, prosecutors say, Berlangero disclosed inside information to Rodgers, which gave WRS an advantage over competitors.
In 2017, Berlangero gave WRS confidential information submitted by two competitors for an asbestos removal project at Grand Central and Metro-North’s Fleetwood station, which enabled WRS to submit the lowest bids, prosecutors say. Between November 2018 and September, the contract netted WRS more than $400,000, they say.
“Asbestos abatement and regulated waste removal are serious public health and safety matters, particularly when it comes to facilities like Grand Central that hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and visitors use every day,” Vance said.
Two years earlier, prosecutors say Berlangero gave Rodgers the price proposal submitted by a competitor for a job disposing waste from numerous Metro-North locations, which allowed WRS to undercut their price. As a result, WRS netted $2.7 million between November 2015 and October 2019.
Also, in May 2015, Berlangero assisted WRS in obtaining a contract worth $1 million to transport waste generated by post-Hurricane Sandy repairs on the railroad, prosecutors say.
In addition to the alleged kickbacks, Rodgers arranged for WRS employees to do work at Berlangero’s home, which included removing items from the basement, performing soil sampling ahead of its sale and assisting with a move after the home was sold, prosecutors say.
The investigation was a joint effort between the Inspector General’s office and the district attorney’s rackets bureau.
Berlangero resigned from Metro-North in March and the railroad has frozen its open contracts with WRS, according to Ken Lovett, a senior advisor with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
“The MTA has zero tolerance for any violation of the public’s trust and if this employee committed these acts, he should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Lovett said.
“Metro-North fully cooperated with the MTA IG and District Attorney in their investigation into this matter. We have reviewed our internal procedures and that review indicates that this was an isolated case of a single, rogue employee — Mr. Berlangero — who was promptly removed from service, brought up on disciplinary charges and resigned," he added.
Rodgers’ attorney, James DiPietro, said Rodgers’ will “vigorously” defend himself against the charges.
In the meantime, WRS has appointed an ombudsman to serve as a liaison to the company and is reviewing its bidding process.
“The litigation is quite focused and does not suggest systemic or chronic issues with the company’s bidding procedure,” DiPietro said.
WRS has been in the environmental cleanup business for 28 years and has 140 employees.
“We take this matter seriously,” said WRS attorney Douglas Nadjari. “As a result, in addition to mounting a strong legal defense, Mr. Rodgers is also authorizing the creation of an independent advisory board whose function will include a thorough top-to-bottom review of bidding procedures and governance to better understand what prompted the complaint in the first place.”
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