In yet more perhaps unsurprising but still infuriating news out of the deep blue city of New York, a city official who was working for the city’s school system was sentenced in a massive scheme to rig contracts and profit from corruption with contracts in over two-dozen schools in the city, a scheme that cost them nearly $150,000.
Such is what the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a Tuesday, August 19 press release, noting that the official involved was working for the school system in a contractor role and got slapped with both a restitution fine and half a year in prison when being sentenced for the massive scheme.
Beginning the press release, the DOJ said, “The owner of a New York-based budget and procurement consulting company was sentenced today to six months in prison for rigging bids submitted to dozens of New York City public schools. The defendant and his company were also ordered to pay $141,511 in restitution to the victim, the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE).”
Continuing, the statement named the man involved and briefly described what he was charged with having done, saying, “Victor A Garrido of Peekskill, New York, and his company, TranscendBS LLC, pleaded guilty on March 19 to rigging bids to NYC DOE from at least as early as November 2020 through at least as late as January 2023. In his plea agreement, Garrido also admitted to fraudulently obtaining over $20,000 in COVID-19 relief unemployment benefits and to failing to file and pay federal or state income taxes for himself or for his company for tax years 2020 to 2023.”
Adding to that somewhat later on, the statement described what the sentenced individual was contracted by the school system to do, saying, “According to court documents, Garrido was previously employed by NYC DOE as a business manager where he provided budget and procurement guidance and training to various schools. Shortly after leaving that role, Garrido formed TranscendBS to provide similar services as a consultant to New York City public schools.”
Then, describing how he acted illegally during the scheme for which he was just sentenced, the statement provided, “During the scheme, Garrido, TranscendBS, and their co-conspirators submitted fake, artificially high ‘competitor’ bids to make it appear as if TranscendBS was the lowest bidder for dozens of business consulting services contracts. None of the ‘competing’ bidders actually provided these services.”
Adding to that, the DOJ noted that the individual used his insider knowledge to skate under increased scrutiny, saying, “In addition to thwarting NYC DOE’s procurement rules to ensure that TranscendBS obtained the contracts, Garrido priced his services to just under the threshold which would have required additional scrutiny.”
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Then, describing who his primary victims were, the statement noted, “The scheme impacted approximately 28 New York City public schools, predominantly in low-income communities. TranscendBS won at least $707,555 in contracts from those schools, resulting in estimated losses to NYC DOE of $141,511. In connection with his unemployment benefit fraud, Garrido was also ordered to pay $23,100 in restitution to the New York State Department of Labor.”