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George Wade Bridge: painting contractor sentenced to 46 months’ imprisonment (PA)

by: Kara Urland
Posted:
Aug 16, 2019 / 11:24 AM EDT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that the painting contractor for the George Wade Bridge Project, Andrew Manganas, age 61, of Canonsburg, Pa., and Panthera Painting, Inc. was sentenced to 46 months’ imprisonment followed by five years’ on supervised release.

Manganas is charged for theft from union plans, wire fraud, and discharge of pollutants into the Susquehanna River. Judge Sylvia H. Rambo also fined Manganas $20,000 and Panthera Painting, Inc. $200,000.

In September 2009, PennDOT awarded a contract for rehabilitation work on the George Wade Bridge to J.D. Eckman as the prime contractor. In October 2009, Panthera Painting was awarded a subcontract by Eckman that covered the blasting, resurfacing, and painting of the structural steel on the George Wade Bridge.

The federal oversight and funding of the contract required each contractor and subcontractor to submit Certified Payroll Reports for every worker and every pay period to certify that the appropriate wage was being paid to each worker.

Manganas and Panthera Painting, Inc. pleaded guilty in January 2018, to submitting false payroll reports that did not accurately reflect the amount workers were being paid.

By under-reporting wages paid, Manganas defrauded the federal agencies paying for the bridgework. By failing to properly remit wages to the unions, Manganas effectively stole money from the workers and the union.

“Andrew Manganas enriched himself by cheating his workers and their unions, and defrauding the U.S. government,” said Michael T. Harpster, Special Agent. “The FBI and our partners will continue to investigate and bring to justice those playing fast and loose with federal funds.”

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Subcontractor charged with dumping pollutants into Susquehanna River, cheating workers

By Hope Stephan
on July 28, 2016 at 10:28 AM

A subcontractor hired for rehabilitation work on the George Wade Bridge in 2009 has been charged with embezzling $400,000 from union benefit and workers’ pension plans related to the work and with dumping pollutants into the river during the project.

Andrew Manganas, 59, and Panthera Painting of Canonsburg were indicted by a federal grand jury in Harrisburg on charges of embezzlement, fraud, false statements and environmental charges under the Clean Water Act related to to overall $42 million project on the bridge that carries Interstate 81 over the Susquehanna River between Cumberland and Dauphin counties.

Panthera was subcontracted for $9,875,000 worth of that work, to blast, resurface and paint the structural steel of the bridge.

Federal oversight required each contractor and subcontractor to submit certified payroll reports for every worker and pay period to certify the federal prevailing wage was being paid.

Manganas and Panthera are accused of engaging in a “side payroll” scheme, U.S. Attorney Peter J. Smith said in a press release. Workers received two checks – one for regular hours and a separate “per diem” check. The “per diem” check was for overtime hours worked and did not include required contributions to the workers’ union welfare benefit and individual employees’ pension plans.

The total taken through the scheme, Smith said, came to $400,000 between 2011 and 2013.

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