Global Navigation
Office of The Attorney General
The State of New Jersey Office of The Attorney General (Dept. of Law & Public Safety) The State of New Jersey NJ Home Services A to Z Departments/Agencies OAG Frequently Asked Questions
Services A to Z Departments/Agencies OAG Frequently Asked Questions
OAG Home
OAG Contact
spacer
Back to News Releases
OAG Home Attorney General's Biography
Attorney General's Biography
spacer spacer spacer
   
 
spacer spacer spacer
spacer spacer spacer
For Immediate Release: For Further Information:
January 9, 2015

Office of The Attorney General
- John J. Hoffman, Acting Attorney General
Division of Criminal Justice
- Elie Honig, Director
Media Inquiries-
Peter Aseltine
609-292-4791
 

Citizen Inquiries-

609-984-5828
spacer
spacer spacer spacer
spacer
Suspended Engineer for Department of Transportation Admits Falsifying Timesheets to Steal Nearly $20,000 in Overtime Pay
spacer
spacer spacer spacer
spacer
Click to enlarge...spacerClick to enlarge...
spacer
spacer spacer spacer
spacer
TRENTON – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that a suspended engineer for the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT) pleaded guilty today to falsifying timesheets to steal nearly $20,000 in overtime pay.

Harish Bhanderi, 53, of Newtown, Pa., who previously was suspended without pay from his position as manager of the DOT Roadway Maintenance, Engineering and Operations Section, pleaded guilty to an accusation charging him with third-degree theft by deception before Superior Court Judge Timothy P. Lydon in Mercer County. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that he be sentenced to 364 days in the county jail as a condition of a term of probation. He must pay restitution of $19,905. He must forfeit his employment with the DOT and will be permanently barred from public employment. Bhanderi is scheduled to be sentenced on March 20.

Deputy Attorney General Mallory Shanahan prosecuted Bhanderi for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau. The case was referred to the Division of Criminal Justice by the DOT Office of the Inspector General. Bhanderi and a second DOT employee, Alkesh Desai, were charged by complaint on Oct. 7, 2014 with third-degree theft by deception. Desai is suspended from his DOT job as supervisor of the Drainage Bureau. The charge against Desai is pending.

In pleading guilty, Bhanderi admitted that he and Desai submitted timesheets indicating that they were entitled to emergency overtime pay for responding after hours to emergency roadway incidents. In reality, they were not responding to emergencies after hours, but were simply driving their state vehicles past sites where emergencies had occurred days or even weeks earlier. The state’s investigation revealed that Bhanderi submitted more than 100 false overtime claims totaling $19,905 between June 2013 and June 2014. Desai allegedly submitted more than 70 overtime claims totaling more than $15,000. The charge against Desai is merely an accusation and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

“This type of deception and abuse of overtime pay drains public resources and is an affront to the taxpayers of New Jersey,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “The fact that Bhanderi is a manager makes his conduct all the more egregious.”

“This case reflects our commitment to work with the DOT to prosecute aggressively offenders who steal taxpayer money,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “We are sending a message that overtime abuse by government employees will not be tolerated.”

“The Department of Transportation expects our employees to operate with integrity and this type of conduct is unacceptable,” NJDOT Inspector General Johanna Barba Jones said. “Through the excellent work of the NJDOT Internal Investigations Unit, the Department uncovered this abuse and referred the case to the Division of Criminal Justice. I am particularly grateful for the hard work of Investigator Robert Crusen and Chief of Investigations Tom Flanagan, and pleased we have an ongoing partnership with the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice to fight waste, fraud, and abuse of public funds.”

Detective Kiersten Pentony was the lead detective for the Division of Criminal Justice, assisted by Lt. Robert Stemmer, and Detectives Lee Bailey, Garrett Brown, Matthew Burd, Janine Buchalski and Thomas Page. Acting Attorney General Hoffman thanked the DOT Office of the Inspector General for their investigation and referral. The DOT OIG investigation was conducted by Chief of Investigations Thomas Flanagan and Investigator Robert Crusen, under the supervision of Inspector General Johanna Barba Jones.

Acting Attorney General Hoffman and Director Honig noted that the Division of Criminal Justice has established a toll-free tip line 1-866-TIPS-4CJ for the public to report corruption, financial crime and other illegal activities confidentially. Additionally, the public can log on to the Division of Criminal Justice webpage at www.njdcj.org to report suspected wrongdoing.

spacer
spacer spacer spacer
spacer
 
News Index Page I top
 
Executive Assistant Attorney General
Attorney General's Message Ask the Attorney General
Contact OAG About OAG
OAG News OAG Frequently Asked Questions
OAG Library Employment
OAG Grants Proposed Rules
OAG History OAG Services A-Z
Statutes
OAG Agencies / Programs / Units
Other News Pages Otras Noticias en Español Division of NJ State Police Division of Law News Governor's Office News Division of Highway Traffic Safety News Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Juvenile Justice Commission News Division on Civil Rights News Division of Consumer Affairs News Division of Criminal Justice News Election Law Enforcement Commission Division of Gaming Enforcement News
NJ State Police News Governor's Office News Division of Highway Traffic Safety News Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Juvenile Justice Commission News Division on Civil Rights News Division of Consumer Affairs News Division of Criminal Justice News Election Law Enforcement Commission Division of Elections News Division of Gaming Enforcement News Office of Government Integrity News

free PDF plugin

NJ State Police News Governor's Office News Division of Highway Traffic Safety News Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Juvenile Justice Commission News Division on Civil Rights News Division of Consumer Affairs News Division of Criminal Justice News Election Law Enforcement Commission Division of Elections News Division of Gaming Enforcement News Office of Government Integrity News
   
Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Legal Statement | Accessibility Statement
NJ Home Logo
Departmental: OAG Home | Contact OAG | About OAG | OAG News | OAG FAQs
Statewide: NJ Home | Services A to Z | Departments/Agencies | FAQs
Copyright © State of New Jersey
This page is maintained by OAG Communications. Comments/Questions: email or call 609-292-4925
OAG Home OAG Home NJ State Police News Governor's Office News Division of Highway Traffic Safety News Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Juvenile Justice Commission News Division on Civil Rights News Division of Consumer Affairs News Division of Criminal Justice News Election Law Enforcement Commission Division of Elections News Division of Gaming Enforcement News Office of Government Integrity News Click to Enlarge Image Click to Enlarge Image Click to Enlarge Graphic Click to enlarge chart Click to enlarge map Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click on image to enlarge... Click on image to enlarge... Click to enlarge...Click to enlarge...Click to enlarge...Click to enlarge... Click to enlarge...