新泽西州 Hillsborough 学区工程主管认罪：虚报加班侵吞15.6万美元、付7万美元回扣
位于新泽西州 Somerset 县的 Hillsborough Township 学区一宗工程回扣案有新进展。美国司法部新泽西区联邦检察官办公室宣布，该学区一名前工程现场主管 Kenneth Gratto 已在 Trenton 联邦法院认罪，承认以虚报加班的方式侵吞学区资金15.6万多美元，并向前学区商务主管支付约7万美元现金回扣。
Gratto 现年55岁，住在宾夕法尼亚州 Dingman's Ferry。他于10月22日在联邦地区法官 Robert Kirsch 面前认罪，罪名是侵吞、窃取并以欺诈手段获取属于 Hillsborough Township 学区保管的资金，涉案金额超过15.6万美元。
检方文件显示，该学区前商务主管 Aiman Mahmoud 于2008年至2021年底任职，负责监督一项数百万美元的校舍升级与新建工程，该工程由2019年公投通过。Mahmoud 安排 Gratto 出任工程现场主管兼业主代表。Gratto 承认，受雇后不久他便与 Mahmoud 约定：由 Mahmoud 批准其大幅夸大的加班工时表，他按每小时150美元计费，并以现金回扣回报。2021年下半年，他多次申报周六、周日各超过12小时的加班，而实际上那些周末他并未工作。他在收到承建公司支付、再由学区报销的工资后，将支票存入银行、取出相应现金，装入信封后按 Mahmoud 指定的地点交付，通常是把信封放在 Mahmoud 未上锁的学区车辆内。他承认向 Mahmoud 支付了约7万美元回扣。
Gratto 承认经此手法共侵吞学区约156,150美元，并已同意按认罪协议没收该金额。此罪最高可判10年监禁并处25万美元罚款，宣判定于2027年3月4日。此案由联邦调查局 FBI Newark 办公室、国土安全调查局 HSI 与 Somerset 县检察官办公室调查，联邦助理检察官 Mark J. McCarren 负责起诉。检方表示，对 Mahmoud 的指控仍在审理中，相关指控仅为指控，Mahmoud 在被证明有罪之前推定无罪。
来源：GSM·美国
Former Hillsborough School District Worker Pleads Guilty in Overtime Kickback Scheme
A former site supervisor for the Hillsborough Township School District in Somerset County, New Jersey, has pleaded guilty in federal court in Trenton to an overtime kickback scheme that cost the district more than $156,000, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced.
Kenneth Gratto, 55, of Dingman's Ferry, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on October 22 before U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch to embezzling, stealing, and obtaining by fraud more than $156,000 in funds belonging to the school district.
According to court documents, Aiman Mahmoud, the district's business administrator from 2008 through the end of 2021, oversaw a multi-million-dollar school construction and upgrade project approved by a 2019 referendum and arranged for Gratto to serve as site supervisor and owner's representative. Gratto admitted that shortly after he was hired, he agreed to pay Mahmoud substantial cash kickbacks in exchange for approval of time sheets that greatly exaggerated his overtime hours, billed at $150 per hour. Throughout the latter half of 2021, he regularly claimed more than 12 hours of overtime on both Saturdays and Sundays even though he performed no work on those days. After receiving paychecks from the project companies, which were reimbursed by the district, he deposited the checks, withdrew cash, and delivered it in an envelope at locations Mahmoud chose, typically inside Mahmoud's unlocked school vehicle. He admitted paying Mahmoud approximately $70,000 in kickbacks.
In total, Gratto admitted embezzling approximately $156,150 from the district and agreed to forfeit that amount. The charge carries a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for March 4, 2027. The case was investigated by the FBI's Newark office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. McCarren. The charges against Mahmoud remain pending and are merely accusations; he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Source: GSM·USA
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：位于新泽西州 Trenton 的 Clarkson S. Fisher 联邦大楼及联邦法院一间法庭内景（资料图，本案认罪在此进行）。Carol M. Highsmith 摄，公共领域（美国国会图书馆藏），Wikimedia Commons。Photo: A courtroom inside the Clarkson S. Fisher Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Trenton, New Jersey (file photo; the plea in this case was entered there). By Carol M. Highsmith, public domain (Library of Congress), via Wikimedia Commons.
