Government Contractor to Pay Over $4 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations

NEWARK, N.J. B Acting U.S. Attorney and Special Attorney Alina Habba announced today that a government contractor based out of Bayonne, New Jersey, will pay $4,043,810.56 to resolve allegations that it improperly employed unauthorized aliens to work on Navy ships.

The settlement resolves allegations that, from May 2017 through December 2020, Bayonne Drydock and Repair Corporation ("Bayonne Drydock") utilized multiple subcontractors that were owned and/or controlled by Bayonne Drydock's Risk Manager to perform work on government contracts, and that those subcontractors were employing individuals who were not authorized to work in the United States. Following a notice that one of the subcontractors was employing unauthorized workers, Bayonne Drydock's Risk Manager purportedly terminated that employee, but that same month took affirmative steps to assist another subcontractor to employ unauthorized aliens, who continued to work on Navy ships. Bayonne Drydock's Risk Manager previously pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of knowingly hiring and continuing to employ unauthorized aliens. In total, Bayonne Drydock was alleged to have employed approximately 52 unauthorized aliens on government contracts.

Acting U.S. Attorney and Special Attorney Habba credited the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, Newark Field Office under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy, and the Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Northeast Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christopher Silvestro for the investigation of the allegations against Bayonne Drydock.

The United States is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark C. Orlowski of the U.S. Attorney's Health Care Fraud and Opioids Enforcement Unit in Newark.

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Defense Counsel: Matthew Beck, Esq., Chiesa, Shahinian and Giantomasi, Roseland, New Jersey.