FORMER EMPLOYEE OF BUILDING MATERIALS SUPPLIER TO AMTRAK ADMITS FRAUD, FALSE TESTIMONY BEFORE GRAND JURY

July 24, 2017 |  Investigations Press Release

On July 24, 2017, the United States Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey, announced that Adam Martignetti, a former Bayway Lumber salesman, admitted his role in a scheme to defraud customers—including Amtrak—and lying to a federal grand jury. Martignetti admitted that from 2011 through 2013 he conspired with others to defraud Amtrak and other Bayway Lumber customers by providing free items to the customers’ employees and then recouping the cost of the items (plus additional revenue for Bayway Lumber) by overbilling and fraudulently billing the customers. Martignetti also admitted to supplying lower-quality, less expensive plywood to a customer, but charging for the more expensive, higher-quality plywood the customer had ordered.

The items he gave to Amtrak employees included tires, several iPads, a camera, audio system and other merchandise. The fraud charge to which Martignetti pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The charge of knowingly making false statements before a grand jury carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss associated with the offense, whichever is greatest. Sentencing is scheduled for September 28, 2017.

Robert Dattilo, president and partial owner of Bayway Lumber, previously pleaded guilty in conjunction with this scheme and was sentenced in July 2016 to 48 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $708,386.  

We conducted this investigation jointly with the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

 

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