STATEN ISLAND — Two electrical contractors from Staten Island were arrested for underpaying workers by more than $200,000 on jobs for CUNY and NYCHA, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced on Tuesday.
Ronald Bartiromo and Raymond D'Auria, both 48 and the owners of R3 Electrical, Inc., were charged with grand-larceny and face up to 15 years in prison for stiffing workers on wages legally required by labor laws.
"My office will take aggressive action, including criminal charges where appropriate, against government contractors who cheat their employees and falsify records as they attempt to conceal their misdeeds," Schneiderman said in a release.
“Protecting taxpayer dollars and the livelihoods of hard-working New Yorkers is a priority for this office.”
R3 Electrical, at 541 Port Richmond Ave., was hired to upgrade the science labs at five CUNY campuses’ in 2008 and 2009, and in 2009 to upgrade the boilers at the NYCHA owned Rutgers Houses in the Lower East Side.
Under the terms of their contracts and New York labor laws, Bartiromo and D’Auria were required to pay workers comparable to other companies in the same field and submit payroll reports of all hours worked and money paid to CUNY and NYCHA.
However, Schneiderman said they failed to pay at least seven workers the legally required wage on both projects, and submitted false pay stubs.
Bartiromo and D’Auria were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday, and received four charges, including grand larceny and violation of labor laws, Schneiderman said.
They face a maximum prison sentence of 5 to 15 years, and the company faces the same charges and up to $10,000 in fines.
