FORMER NEW YORK CITY ENGINEER INDICTED IN CONSPIRACY TO COMMITT BRIBERY

On June 5, 2008, Charles N. Kriss, a former New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services engineer, was indicted for his role in a conspiracy to commit bribery by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court in Inslip, NY. The Department of Justice accused Mr. Kriss of accepting bribes from a co-conspirator company supplying New York City with plastic marine pilings for a project to reconstruct Pier 86 the home of the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum.
Plastic marine pilings, resembling telephone poles, are reinforced synthetic pilings used as substitutes for traditional timber pilings in port and pier construction projects and other marine applications.

The conspiracy took place between 1999 and 2003. In May 2007, Robert Taylor, a former employee of a Virginia based marine products firm, pled guilty to multiple felonies, including a charge of conspiring to bribe Mr. Kriss. Mr. Taylor’s company charged an extra 10 percent to purchase orders worth approximately $400,000 and used this money to pay Mr. Kriss. In January 2008, the U.S. District Court in Norfolk, VA sentenced Mr. Taylor to serve 2 years in prison and a pay a fine of $300,000. Mr. Kriss could face up to five years imprisonment and a fine up to $250,000.

Andre Barlow
(202) 589-1834
abarlow@dbmlawgroup.com