SOUTH BRUNSWICK: NYC D.A. charges local man

By Ed Birch, Special Writer
   New York City authorities charged Freddy Deoliveira, 52, a Kendall Park resident, with concealing a conviction when applying to renew his stationary engineer’s license, according to a press release from the city Aug. 8.
   According to the release, Mr. Deoliveria was charged with offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, a class E felony in New York. If convicted, the charge is punishable by up to four years in prison.
   In the release, officials said Mr. Deoliveira submitted a renewal application in August 2010 to the New York City Department of Buildings for a stationary engineer’s license.
   That license allows the person to operate high-pressure boilers and cooling systems without further supervision.
   In that renewal application, Mr. Deoliveria allegedly signed a sworn statement representing that he had “no criminal convictions” on record, according to the release.
   Further investigation by city officials, however, discovered that he pleaded guilty on Jan. 11, 2010 to conspiracy in a federal bid-rigging case involving his job as a purchasing manager at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan.
   According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s website, Mr. Deoliveria pleaded guilty to rigging bids for re-insulation work at the hospital between October 2000 and March 2005.
   In a DOJ press release announcing the plea, officials said Mr. Deoliveria worked with others to make it look like contracts awarded by the hospital were complying with low-bidding regulations when they, in fact, were not.
   In his guilty plea, Mr. Deoliveria admitted that he would designate which company would get the contract and then, with others, generate false, higher “complementary” bids on the letterhead of other companies to make the practice appear legal.
   According to the DOJ, Mr. Deoliveria received cash “kickbacks” in exchange for awarding the bids.
   Investigators said Mr. Deoliveria served seven months in prison for the conviction, which carried a maximum prison term of 10 years and a possible $1 million fine.
   Officials also said he is no longer employed by that private hospital.
   The licensing applications are administered by the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services. Successful candidates receive credentials from the New York City Department of Buildings.
   Mr. Deoliveria was one of several charged with similar offenses to obtain the licenses by the city Aug. 8.
   ”Misrepresenting criminal history or professional experience to deceive the City into issuing a license is a fool’s game that will only lead to arrest, prosecution, and the City pursuing revocation of the license,” New York City Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said in the release.
   The case has also been referred to the Buildings Special Investigations Unit, a specialized unit supervised by the Department of Investigation and staffed by Buildings personnel, to begin license revocation proceedings, according to officials. The unit was formed in 2004 to investigate individuals and companies who violate construction codes.
   The case will be prosecuted by New York City Assistant District Attorney J. Carolina Chavez from the Manhattan office, and the investigation was conducted by the Inspector General’s Office for Citywide Administrative Services at the Department of Investigations, according to the release.