Michael L. Diamond, Asbury Park Press
Published 3:12 p.m. ET March 27, 2019
A Toms River construction contractor pleaded guilty Wednesday for not paying his employees prevailing wages for their work on a student housing project in Camden, the New Jersey Attorney General said.
The state recommended Albert Chwedczuk be sentenced to three years in prison. He also must pay up to $200,407 in restitution to his workers.
“This employer cheated his workers and hoarded public funds for his own enrichment,” Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said in a statement. “This case is a message to all employers that we will not tolerate contractors underpaying their workers and lying about it.”
Contractors working on government projects are required to pay employees prevailing wage, which includes both wages and fringe benefits based on collective bargaining agreements for a particular trade in the county where the work takes place.
Chwedczuk, 45, had been barred since 2014 from working on public contracts because of previous violations of the Prevailing Wage Act when he operated Ren Construction LLC and Real Construction LLC, authorities said.
They said he created a new business called Bella Group LLC to obtain a subcontract worth $400,000 to perform masonry work for the Cooper Camden Student Housing Project on South Broadway.