N.J. AG Reports Indictment of Atlantic County Transportation Contractor

New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey announced that an Atlantic County transportation contractor and his company were indicted by a State Grand Jury for reportedly filing false contract payment claims and installing substandard crash guard devices for the New Jersey Department of Transportation. The charges in the seven count indictment were brought by the Office of Government Integrity.

Tracy M. Thompson, acting director of the Office of Government Integrity (OGI), said that a State Grand Jury indictment charged George R. Smith, Jr., 51, of Folsom, and president of Statewide Hi-Way Safety (SHS) Inc., with two counts of false contract payment claims of government contracts, two counts of false representation for a government contract, one count of theft by deception, one count official misconduct by a corporate official, all second-degree crimes, and one count of unsworn falsification to authorities, a fourth-degree crime.

If convicted, Smith could face up to 10 years in jail and fines up to $150,000.

According to Thompson, the seven counts of the Grand Jury’s indictment charge that in March of 2004, Smith and SHS allegedly submitted a false claim in excess of $25,000 for payment for performance of a contract with the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

The indictment further alleges that Smith and his company between 2001 and 2004, derived a benefit of more than $80,000 for installing improper roadside crash guard modules. The contracts required SHS to replace damaged crash guard modules with new Adiem™ brand modules.

The investigation revealed that in 2003, SHS began repairing and later manufacturing its own version of crash guard modules, while continuing to bill NJDOT for the Adiem brand.