USAO, Eastern District of New York - Press Release

Summary

On March 5, 2012, John Farnsworth, Toni Thompson, William Taylor, Stephen Tripodi, and Nicholas Farnsworth were indicted in U.S. District Court, Brooklyn, New York.  The five defendants were indicted on charges of conspiracy, embezzlement, providing and accepting unlawful payments to a union representative, and health care fraud.  

John Farnsworth controlled companies to include Rainbow Transport Corporation, Greenwood 2, LLC,  Nicholas J, LLC, and SDT Hauling, LLC.  Thompson, Taylor, Tripodi, and Nicholas Farnsworth were co-conspirators and were placed in nominal positions of the companies controlled by John Farnsworth.  John Farnsworth entered into a scheme with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 282, to allegedly defraud union benefit funds from employees on projects receiving DOT grant funds.  These projects included the New York City Second Avenue Subway project and the World Trade Center Transportation Hub project.  Both are funded in part by the Federal Transit Administration.  The amount of the fraud to the union benefit funds is approximately $5 million. 

This is a joint investigation with the U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Labor Racketeering, Fraud Investigations, and Employee Benefits Security Administration; Port Authority New York & New Jersey - OIG; Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division; Metropolitan Transit Authority - OIG; and New York City Business Integrity Commission.  

Note:  Indictments, informations, and criminal complaints are only accusations by the Government.  All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.