Lawrence Wecker, 84, a construction company boss with alleged mob ties, was sent to prison after admitting guilt to a wide-ranging enterprise scheme.
According to court documents, Wecker and a second suspect, Joseph Giunta, engaged in a slew of multiple schemes in which he apparently used minority and women-owned businesses to fraudulently obtain contracts to conduct construction work on affordable housing developments. Wecker paid off numerous businesses in order to obtain government MWBE contracts, and then falsified records so that instead his personal non-union drywall and carpentry company, JM3, would fulfill the work. Prosecutors said said that JM3 was not qualified to perform many of these projects.
Additionally, it was discovered that both companies took steps to cover up workers’ injuries to prevent their cash payroll from being revealed.