Photo Courtesy Google
The SCA project on which the victims were working during the scheme was located at PS 71 in Ridgewood.
By Forum Staff
A Long Island man has been charged with taking thousands of dollars in kickbacks from employees working on a School Construction Authority project at PS 71 in Ridgewood, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber announced Thursday.
Komal Singh, 52, was arraigned Wednesday on a grand jury indictment charging him with three counts of grand larceny in the third degree, three counts of grand larceny in the fourth degree and violation of New York Labor Law section 198(b).
Photo Courtesy DA Katz
“This kind of exploitation is illegal,” DA Katz said. “My Office will not relent in our efforts to investigate and prosecute those who seek to take advantage of our workforce.”
From March of 2019 through February of 2020, Singh was the foreman at the PS 71 job site and had authority to hire and fire workers. During this time, he allegedly hired the workers with the understanding that each was to pay him $50 per day for each day worked. When the victims complained or stopped paying, they were allegedly fired by the defendant or informed that there was no more work for them. As a result, Singh was able to extort thousands of dollars in kickbacks from each complainant under the threat of termination.
“The victims worked hard for their money and, as alleged, the defendant demanded they kick some of it back to him or face termination. This kind of exploitation is illegal. The prevalence of such schemes is the reason I created the Housing & Worker Protection Bureau, to make sure that employees are protected from unlawful actions,” Katz said. “My Office will not relent in our efforts to investigate and prosecute those who seek to take advantage of our workforce.”
If convicted, Singh faces up to seven years in prison.
