A Marlboro resident who owned a company that sold maintenance and cleaning supplies was sentenced to 31 months in prison for paying bribes to a Union County official and to defrauding the county of more than $120,000 in connection with the purchases, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Richard Greer, 56, of Marlboro, pleaded guilty in 2013 before U.S. District Judge William H. Walls to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Walls imposed Greer’s sentence on Oct. 8 in Newark federal court.
According to documents in this case and statements made in court: From 2006 to 2011, Greer owned and operated PositiveAttitude LLC, a commercial vendor that sold, among other products, maintenance and cleaning supplies to Union County.
Aniello Palmieri, 59, of Toms River, was the director of the Division of Facilities Management for Union County and oversaw the purchase of building materials, tools, hardware, janitorial supplies and other supplies used by the various bureaus of the division.
Greer made cash bribe payments to Palmieri of $500 per month in exchange for ensuring continued Union County business for Positive Attitude.
Greer generated fictitious invoices to Union County for many industrial cleaning products to cover the money paid to Palmieri, often including a profit for himself above the kickback he paid to Palmieri.
Positive Attitude received $120,000 to $200,000 in fraudulent proceeds from the fictitious invoices. Greer used the mails to facilitate this scheme by having Union County send the checks in payment for these purchases to his company in Marlboro, according to the U.S. Attorney.
In addition to the prison term, Walls sentenced Greer to three years of supervised release and ordered restitution of $185,000.
On Oct. 2, 2013, Palmieri and Frank Donald Vicendes III, 50, of Berkeley Heights, a Union County vendor, admitted to engaging in a similar bribery scheme and to defrauding Union County of more than $120,000 in connection with sale of supplies to Union County.
Palmieri and Vicendes entered their guilty pleas to mail fraud before Walls in Newark federal court. Palmieri was sentenced on Oct. 6 to 70 months in prison. Vicendes is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 21.