Investigations

On January 26, 2017, Frank DeCarlo, a former woodcraft supervisor at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s Department of Public Works, was charged, via information, with accepting bribes. He was arraigned at the U.S. District Courthouse in Central Islip, Eastern District of New York.

 

Between approximately January 2003 and November 2016, DeCarlo allegedly accepted bribes in cash and free services from favored contractors in return for his influence in steering the contracts. DeCarlo was responsible for drafting statements of work for construction-related jobs as well as soliciting and obtaining quotes from vendors. The kickback schemes included structuring purchases from vendors to remain below certain dollar thresholds to avoid the competitive bidding process. In other instances, DeCarlo instructed a cooperating witness (CW) to provide bogus “covering” bids, in addition to the CW’s actual bid, to guarantee contract awards. In those instances, the CW paid DeCarlo 10 percent of the contracted amounts.

 

DOT-OIG conducted this investigation jointly with the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID).

 

Note: Indictments, informations, and criminal complaints are only accusations by the Government. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.