Tioga Downs Project Was Rife with Minority Business Fraud, Says New York State
Posted on: February 23, 2022, 02:44h.
Last updated on: February 24, 2022, 10:10h.
Tioga Downs officials and contractors are accused of gaming the system during the harness racetrack’s redevelopment into a racino back in 2016.
Officials at the upstate casino improperly claimed almost $3 million in MWBE utilization credit by “hiring” the Milray Food Company, a business without a functioning website, according to New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang.
While it was certified as a minority-owned business in New York State, Milray was in fact operated by one individual from her home in New Jersey.
Meanwhile, food was actually supplied by two companies that were not MWBE certified.
Sham Contracts
The MWBE (Minority/Women-owned Business Enterprises) program is designed to promote the inclusion of businesses owned by women and minorities in state contracts.
Projects that hit state quotas can apply for grants, awards, and other benefits. And because casinos are regulated by the state, the Tioga Downs redevelopment was considered a state project.
But some of the minority business purportedly hired as suppliers were fronts for white-owned business that ultimately fulfilled the contracts. The inspector general labeled the ploy a “pass-through scheme.”
Her allegations were outlined in letters sent last week to the New York State Gaming Commission and the state economic development agency, Empire State Development.
Lang said that in the Milray case, all parties were aware of the improper arrangement. Emails showed that Tioga Downs officials had asked the actual service providers to invoice through Milray “so that they can hit the NY state mandated sales percent of MWBE.”
‘Undermining Equality’
In another instance, a non-MWBE certified company, Macto Electric, was hired to complete $900,000 of electrical work. On paper, it contracted MWBE-certified BSV Metal Finishers to supply the necessary electrical goods. But according to the inspector general, these were actually supplied by a different company that did not have certification.
Meanwhile, BSV pocketed $34,074 for doing nothing, according to Lang.
By misrepresenting and enlisting minority- and women-owned subcontractors to act as pass-throughs in order to meet MWBE utilization rates, these contractors potentially undermined our state’s goal to provide an even playing field in industries where these populations are under-represented,” Aries Dela Cruz, spokesperson for the inspector general, told The Buffalo News.
No charges have yet been brought in the case.
Tioga Downs owner Jeff Gural told The Buffalo News that he had not been aware of the scheme and “no one who still works for me had anything to do with [it].” The manager who handled food distribution has since left the company, he added.
“Integrity is very important to me, so I’m very disappointed,” Gural said.
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Last Comments ( 4 )
I think it's a bunch of bullsh*t that they have programs like that! Level the playing field. Go back to when jobs like this contractors would bid on them. You wouldn't have this problem!!!
Typical lying Jew boy. Deny everything and profit from your behavior. They should lock this Jew boy up but they won't.
The problem is the law itself. With so many banks pressured to give small business loans to minorities and women, if “Joe Smith” wants to open a pool cleaning business, he’s probably going to put it in his wife’s name, as he’s more likely to get the loan and better interest rate. It’s the same with bidding contracts. People are going to find “work arounds” to secure, or even qualify, for bids.
jeff gural can't define integrity, greedy hypocrite