Robbinsville mayor says no wrongdoing on his part
By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
ROBBINVILLE A federal subpoena issued in connection with the extortion case against Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo demands all of the embattled politician’s e-mails with Mayor Dave Fried since Jan. 1, 2011.
Mr. Fried said Saturday he was not involved in any wrongdoing and pledged to cooperate fully with the ongoing federal investigation.
A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court last week accuses Mr. Bencivengo of taking $12,400 from the Hamilton school district’s insurance broker in exchange for using his political influence to convince an unidentified school board member to renew the broker’s contract without public bidding.
The complaint says the broker is a “cooperating witness” who secretly recorded the exchanges for the FBI.
The Allen & Associates employee who handled the Hamilton school board account is Marliese Ljuba, although she is not identified by name in the complaint.
Robbinsville Township Attorney Mark Roselli said Monday that Allen & Associates also had handled the public employee health benefits account for Robbinsville Township since 2007, but that arrangement was terminated Monday at the mayor’s direction. Mr. Roselli said Ms. Ljuba had been the “broker of record” for Robbinsville, but that the town worked with other employees at the firm as well.
The Robbinsville Board of Education also used Allen & Associates before switching health insurance brokers in November 2010, Superintendent Steve Mayer said.
Mr. Fried, who did not return a message left on his cell phone, issued a prepared statement Saturday saying the extortion charge filed against Mayor Bencivengo, his friend and GOP ally, had come as a “complete surprise” to him.
”If what I have read about Mayor Bencivengo turns out to be true, I will be extremely shocked and disappointed because that is not the John Bencivengo I have come to know,” Mr. Fried said.
Mayor Fried, who is the chairman of the Mercer County Republican Committee, sought to downplay the significance of his name turning up in the subpoena of Hamilton Township records.
Mr. Fried said that given his personal and professional relationship with Mr. Bencivengo, and the fact that Robbinsville Township used the same health benefits broker, “it would seem logical that authorities would look into any communications between John and myself as part of their investigation.”
”I would like to assure the residents of Robbinsville that I have not engaged in any illicit activity and I, along with my administration, will cooperate fully with any investigation,” Mayor Fried said.
Mr. Roselli said federal investigators had not issued subpoenas for any Robbinsville municipal records as they did at the Hamilton Township Municipal Building and the Hamilton Board of Education offices on Friday. When asked if Mr. Fried had received subpoenas directly at his home or business for either documents or correspondence, Mr. Roselli responded: “To my knowledge, he has not.”
State Comptroller Matthew Boxer issued a report in February that was critical of the practice of using health insurance brokers to secure public employee health insurance coverage from insurance carriers. The brokers’ commissions are often directly related to the cost of the insurance, so the more the local government unit pays, the more the broker earns, the report said.
In addition, under the state’s Local Public Contracts Law, the purchase of insurance and the related consultant services are exempt from public bidding procedures, although towns are supposed to get at least two competitive quotes.
Mr. Roselli said three firms were interviewed before Allen & Associates was selected as Robbinsville’s health insurance broker in 2007, and the mayor was not involved in the interview process, he said.
The township did not pay Allen & Associates directly for its work; Mr. Roselli said he thought the Vineland firm earned about a 5 percent commission from the township’s insurance carrier, which has changed three times since 2007. He acknowledged that insurance carriers pass the cost of the commissions they pay brokers back to their customers through the premiums charged.
Mr. Roselli said he did not have figures at press time of how much the township has paid in health insurance premiums annually since 2007 when Allen & Associates was selected, but would look into the matter.
One of the recommendations in the comptroller’s report was for the state to require insurance carriers to clearly identify in their billing statements to municipalities and other public entities the amount of the broker’s commission.