Joseph Ferriero an owner with Dennis Oury in Government Grants Consulting LLC has been indicted for Racketeering related to political corruption and extortion in Bergen County NJ. Here is the full indictment. Here is the article in the Star Ledger Joseph A. Ferriero, the former chairman of the Bergen County Democratic Organization and once a major Democratic powerbroker in New Jersey, was indicted today by a federal grand jury with running a racketeering scheme in which he allegedly paid kickbacks to a public official, solicited and accepted bribes and extorted companies wanting to do business in Bergen County, authorities said.
The sweeping 74-page indictment charges Ferriero, 56, with conspiring to promote bribery, distributing bribery proceeds, and committing mail and wire fraud. He also is accused of violating the federal Travel Act and mail and wire fraud statutes, authorities said. Dennis Oury agreed to a deal for a lighter sentence and then testified against Joseph Ferriero related to hidden interests in Government Grant Consulting. Here is an article from the Bergen Record. Former Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero faces a federal corruption trial Thursday without his longtime political ally and codefendant after Dennis Oury pleaded guilty Tuesday and implicated Ferriero in a scheme to secretly profit from a grant-writing business. The surprise plea, coming two days before opening statements were scheduled, shifts the dynamics of the trial and raises the prospect that Oury, the former chief counsel for the BCDO, may have traded his seat at the defense table for a spotlight in the witness box. Lawyers in the case would not comment on whether Oury, 59, a veteran municipal and land use attorney, has agreed to testify for the government. That inference, however, appeared likely from the lengthy and detailed questions Oury answered in acknowledging his and Ferriero’s roles in the scheme. “Did you and Joseph Ferriero deliberately set up and structure this company so that your involvement would not be publicly known to others, including the potential clients that you intended to solicit for business?” asked U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler. “Yes, your honor,” Oury replied. “To help keep your involvement and Joseph Ferriero’s involvement from being known to the public, did Joseph Ferriero prepare a shareholders agreement and other documents … that assigned officer roles in the company to ‘front people’ rather than yourself and Joseph Ferriero?” the judge continued. “Yes,” Oury said. David Spatz was the president of Government Grants Consulting and was also the consultant to the Union City Agency for Community Development that was raided by the FBI a few months ago.
Sun Jun 15, 2008 at 07:57:07 PM EDT
Michael Gartland of the Bergen Record is now telling us that an illegal partnership may be the undoing of the Boss of Bergen County and his Lackluster Lackey-in-Chief:
A consulting firm at the center of a federal investigation did not incorporate in New Jersey or file an affirmative action report, as required by law, according to state officials.
Governmental Grants Consulting also doesn’t show up in a database covering corporate documents from all 50 states.
The only paper trail left behind by the firm is the contracts it had with at least five Bergen County municipalities, along with records showing payments for those contracts.
Hmmm. Let’s see – if they opened a bank account under an illegal business name, then that would be bank fraud. If they mailed a bill to their clients, then that would be mail fraud. Looks like it’s pretty bad for Ferriero and Oury. Oury, in particular, seems to have “forgotten” to file disclosure reports for some of his conflicted interests.
The best excuse for those handing out contracts? Take a lesson from James Guida, former mayor of Lyndhurst:
Former Lyndhurst Mayor James Guida, said he thought Spatz showed him the proper credentials for a limited liability company, but was not entirely certain.
“I met the fellow, I think, once,” he said. “Governmental Grants – it sounded professional. David Spatz – he sounded very professional.”
Ineptitude and stupidity, it seems, will be the defense The following is related to testimony given by David Spatz explaining how Government Grants Consulting operated. Thursday, October 08, 2009
Spatz: Ferriero gave list of towns to solicit business from
David Spatz testified that Joseph Ferriero and Dennis Oury provided him with a list of municipalities and contacts in those towns to use when soliciting business for Governmental Grants Consulting.
Spatz testified that he met with Bergenfield officials Feb. 7, 2002, and introduced himself. Borough Administrator Joseph Hess and Mayor Robert Rivas asked Spatz about his experience with grant work and told him about the types of projects in which Bergenfield was interested.
The meeting fell one day after Spatz had breakfast with Ferriero.
After the meeting, Spatz sent Ferriero an e-mail, telling him what was discussed — primarily that Bergenfield was interested in a Green Acres grant, and that the borough’s engineer wrote Department of Transportation grants.
Ferriero responded that Spatz should “convince them” that GGC did DOT grants.
“Indicate that we have influence to get a better result,” Ferriero wrote.
“When you met with Bergenfield, were you aware they were already a GGC client?” Honig asked Spatz.
“No,” he replied.
“Was the company up and running,” Honig asked.
“No,” Spatz said.
A shareholders agreement was signed by the parties of GGC on March 15, 2002.
Spatz also said he sent monthly invoices for his $3,500 salary to Ferriero.
On April 26, 2009, Spatz sent
“It was my understanding that [Barrett] was still president, and Mr. Mottola was still secretary,” Spatz said.
Mottola and Barrett testified earlier this week that they withdrew from GGC about a week after the March 15 shareholders agreement was signed.
Spatz began signing contracts as president in May, and Maria Fagliarone, Ferriero’s personal secretary, began signing as corporate secretary for GGC.
“As president, what duties did you have other than signing contracts?” Honig asked.
“None,” Spatz replied.a letter to Thomas Barrett and Anthony Mottola, early participants in GGC — and copied Ferriero — asking Barrett and Mottola to sign a contract.
Part of this on-going investigation involves the Paramus Affordable Housing Corporation which dealt with David Spatz of Government Grants Consulting and William Katchen the accountant for the Paramus Affordable Housing Corporation. William Katchen is also involved with the Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation with former Red Bank Mayor Ed McKenna.
Another subpoena for mayor’s non-profit
Friday, August 22, 2008
Last updated: Friday August 22, 2008, EDT 10:41 PM
BY MICHAEL GARTLAND
The Record
Staff Writer
PARAMUS – A borough affordable housing corporation has received a subpoena from federal agents, municipal spokesman Keith Furlong confirmed today.
The subpoena, which was served Thursday, is the second in two months regarding the Paramus Affordable Housing Corp., a non-profit for which Mayor James Tedesco serves as president.
Dennis Oury, who served as the borough attorney from 2001 to 2007, is listed as the non-profit’s agent, according to state records. He also serves as counsel for the Bergen County Democratic Organization.
Federal agents served search warrants at his law offices Thursday, along with those of Joseph Ferriero, the BCDO chief. The agents seized at least 18 boxes of documents and computer hard drives.
Attorneys for both men confirmed that agents searched the offices for information about Governmental Grants Consulting, a firm in which Ferriero and Oury were partners with two other men – David Spatz, its president, and Leonard Kaiser, who also serves as Bergen County Utilities Authority Chairman.
Sean Quinn, a spokesman for the FBI, would not confirm today whether the subpoena and the search warrants were connected.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office served the borough with a subpoena in July, seeking records about Paramus Affordable Housing Corp.
According to 2007 tax records, Paramus Affordable Housing Corp. has assets worth about $2.4 million, although property tax records put the total at $3 million.
Tedesco, who has been mayor since 2003, and the non-profit’s accountant, William Katchen, have not responded to repeated requests for comment since the first subpoena was received.
Katchen, who once served as director of the Edgewater Municipal Utility Authority, also has worked for the housing authorities of Garfield, Cliffside Park, Edgewater, Englewood and the city of Passaic.
In 1990, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development slapped him with a one-year suspension after the Passaic Housing Authority misspent $1.7 million in taxpayer money. Katchen was the housing authority’s accountant.
Tedesco and Katchen’s aren’t the only names that appear on the non-profit’s tax forms.
Former Paramus Councilman Richard Lambert was listed as the non-profit’s secretary on its 2004 tax form, but Lambert said he ended his ties with the group after stepping down as a councilman in 2000.
“That’s crazy,” he said. “My name shouldn’t be there. I didn’t go to any meetings after I left.”
John Tashjian was listed as a trustee in 2004, but said he never attended any of the non-profit’s meetings.
Louis Romano appears on the form next to the designation of vice president. Romano, who has served on the borough’s Planning Board and Board of Adjustment, said he, too, was surprised his name appeared on the 2004 tax document.
“The mayor appointed me in ’05,” he said. “I was there a couple of months, and I resigned. It just wasn’t my bag.”
U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie has executed more than 30 subpoenas in North Jersey since May. Many of those have sought information related to Oury and Governmental Grants Consulting.
Federal authorities appear to be looking into how that firm’s principals used their political influence to obtain business for it.
Oury, who also is counsel for the Bergen County Improvement Authority, has held jobs in several towns, including Ridgefield and Bergenfield, both of which employed Governmental Grants Consulting.
In Bergen County, his public work generated $760,000 to $1.1 million in annual income for his law firm in each of the three previous calendar years. Oury has given at least $105,000 to Democratic candidates since 1999, most of it going to the BCDO.
Bergenfield fired Oury as its borough attorney in January, and Paramus reassigned him to a labor attorney position.
E-mail: gartland@northjersey.com
Find this article at:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/Anot…on-profit.html
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It is interesting how William Katchen’s paths cross those with legal issues. David Spatz was not only involved with Government Grants Consulting but also in Union City where the FBI recently raided the office of the Agency for Community Development in which David Spatz was a consultant. Dennis Oury who was the borough attorney for Paramus as well as the agent for Paramus Affordable Housing Corporation has now become a cooperating witness for the case against Joseph Ferriero and Government Grants Consulting. Len Kaiser of Government Grants Consulting was arrested by the FBI for illegal use of campaign funds. The FBI investigation of the Paramus Affordable Housing Corporation was related to its dealings with Government Grants Consulting. Len Kaiser also worked with William Katchen on the merger of the Bergen County Utility Authority and the Edgewater Utility Authority.
Another part of the indictment deals with the C3 Emergency Website System that is used by the Borough of Red Bank. C3 Holdings of Nutley NJ is the company and is accused of providing kickbacks to Ferriero in order to secure contracts with various municipalities. Here is an article from the Two River Times when the contract was first announced. Joseph Ferriero was also involved in the failed Encap project along with the DeCotiis Law Firm. The DeCotiis Law Firm is involved in the Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation. Federal investigators also have issued subpoenas in the collapse of the EnCap golf and housing project. They are working with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office in a probe of the massive project’s failure. State Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper reported in February that EnCap and members of the powerful DeCotiis law firm in Teaneck, misled state officials about their resources and ability to manage the reclamation of four landfills in Lyndhurst and Rutherford and the installation of complex environmental safeguards. The officials said the joint state and federal team is zeroing in on a handful of controversial figures and issues connected to EnCap. – See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/environment/specialreports/Ferriero_probe_grows_deeper.html?page=all#sthash.s0Ass1kQ.dpuf Here is a full article related to the Encap Scandal From the very beginning, the fortunes of EnCap and the other Cherokee New Jersey projects were in the hands of the DeCotiis law firm — in particular, Wisler, a marquee partner whom witnesses described as a driving force and top day-to-day decision maker. Wisler was indicted as Bryant’s co-defendant but died of cancer before the trial began. He had pleaded not guilty. The firm — which boasts many ex-government officials among its members — is widely known as one of the state’s most effective. It is also known for making political donations and receiving millions in contracts from government agencies. Both firm founder M. Robert DeCotiis and his son, Michael DeCotiis, served as chief legal counsel to Democratic governors. Alfred DeCotiis, M. Robert DeCotiis’ brother, is one of the state’s leading political fund-raisers. Former Cherokee executives who testified during the Bryant trial said the developers chose the DeCotiis firm to shepherd their projects because it wanted a guide who could navigate the New Jersey’s political landscape. The law firm’s office in Teaneck became ground zero for the developers as they began to court state officials in Trenton and the Meadowlands in 1999, some five years before groundbreaking on the EnCap golf project took place. Former Cherokee executive Anselm Fusco testified that when he was hired in 2002, he reported to work at the DeCotiis firm’s Teaneck office because the North Carolina-based developers did not yet have a New Jersey office of their own. The former president of Encap was arrested by the FBI for extortion related to a redevelopment project in Asbury Park, NJ
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