News

November 25, 2009

A third NYC firm, county gov’t linked

Skrep: Crime issues discussed with Protection Advisory Inc.; unaware of ties between firm, county contracts.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
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Links to another New York City company and Luzerne County government have surfaced.

The toll-free phone number that appears on the county’s contract with Continental Consultants Group was also used by Protection Advisory Inc., a New York City private investigation and security company.

William Grub was listed prominently on the company’s Web site, where he was described as a company investigator, though his name has been removed from the site within the past week.

A man named William Grub owns Long Island-based B & M Investigations, and federal agents are investigating work done in county government by both B & M and Continental, which also used a New York City address.

Protection Advisory’s Web site also contained a testimonial from Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak praising Grub and another Protection Advisory representative, John Luongo. Luongo had been listed as the company’s managing director, but his name also was removed from the site in recent days.

This online comment, also since removed from the site, was attributed to Skrepenak:

“John Luongo and Bill Grub are known to me professionally through their work on behalf of Luzerne County. I have come to know these gentlemen personally and consider their work to be of superior quality. They are both gentlemen of the highest integrity and of the most pleasing personality. I have no hesitation in recommending John Luongo and Bill Grub for your consideration confident that their character and work quality measure up to the highest standards.”

Skrepenak said on Tuesday he does not remember writing that comment or giving clearance for any statement from him to be used on a Web site.

He said he met both men through former county employee William Maguire, who was charged as part of the county corruption probe.

“I don’t recall giving permission to use a quote, and I don’t recall that quote,” Skrepenak said. “Any contact I had with them was through Bill Maguire,” he said.

Maguire, the county’s former county emergency management municipal coordinator, has pleaded guilty to accepting $1,400 from a contractor in connection with supporting a contract on the Housing Authority, where he was a board member.

Skrepenak said he discussed crime fighting and criminal records management with Luongo and Grub, but he insists he did not know of any links between them and county contracts. He said he has nothing bad to say about Luongo or Grub.

Both Grub and Skrepenak signed B & M’s county contract, but Skrepenak said he did not know that Grub was affiliated with the company.

Luongo, a former New York City police sergeant, could not be reached for comment at Protection Advisory, and a receptionist said the company has no connection to Grub or Luzerne County. She kept saying that the reporter had the wrong number.

A man named William Grub is security director at The Manhattan Club, a timeshare residence located between Broadway and Seventh Avenue. It’s unclear if this is the same person. He has not returned numerous messages left at the timeshare and at B & M. The club’s staff biography on Grub says he is a retired New York City Police Department homicide detective.

Several county officials stayed at The Manhattan Club in 2006 and 2007, including Skrepenak, former county human resources director Doug Richards and former deputy chief clerk Bill Brace. Brace has agreed to plead guilty in the corruption probe for accepting a tailored suit in New York City from an unnamed party in exchange for helping to secure a contract for an unspecified business.

Richards was fired last week as county human resources director for failing to answer Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla’s questions about Continental. Federal agents seized records from his office.

County Solicitor Vito DeLuca has since found suspicious links to B & M and Continental in e-mails sent by Richards.

DeLuca found an October 2006 e-mail from Grub to Richards containing two documents – a company letterhead and a blank invoice. DeLuca questioned why Richards would have either document. Companies normally complete invoices themselves on their company letterhead detailing the work that was performed for the county in order to receive payment.

Another May 2007 e-mail from Richards to county Workforce Investment Development Agency Director Richard Ammon contained a copy of a contract from Continental Consultants Group. DeLuca traced the origin of the contract document and found that it was created by Richards.

According to the e-mail, Richards told Ammon that then-county Solicitor Jim Blaum had reviewed the attached agreement. Richards instructed Ammon to sign the document and fax it to Richards’ human resources department.

Blaum could not be reached for comment on several attempts.

Continental was hired without bids or public approval by the county’s Workforce Investment Development Agency to oversee temporary staff hired for a post-flood cleanup program. Richards then started using Continental to oversee county retirees who continued to work as consultants, but that work was not bid out or publicly approved by commissioners as required.

Continental was paid $807,770 from May 2007 through July 2008, though that amount includes payments to retirees and flood workers. Invoices for Continental Consultants filed in the controller’s office contained instructions that the company’s checks were to be delivered to Richards and, in one instance, Maguire, instead of mailing them straight to the company.

A source said federal investigators are looking into whether Richards has a connection to Continental. Richards, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, has not been charged or accused of any wrongdoing.

Continental Consultants was incorporated a month before Richards sent the contract to Ammon. New York State corporation records for B & M and Continental list the same mailing address -- the law firm of Miller, Apfel & Curran in Hauppauge, N.Y. Firm representative Dennis Apfel said the firm assisted a client in setting up the corporations, but the firm has no connection to the companies and should not be identified as a mailing address.

B & M was hired by commissioners to perform background checks on employees, but the contract also allowed a $35,000 payment for a yet-to-be-found report on pre-employment procedure recommendations. The company was paid $55,000 from January 2006 through October 2007.

Attempts to reach Continental Consultants Group have been unsuccessful, and current occupants of New York addresses listed by the company deny any knowledge of or connection to the company.

Jennifer Learn-Andes, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7333.

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