A member of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and general foreman for a Port Elizabeth terminal operator was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for fraudulently collecting a nearly $500,000 annual salary, much of which was for work he never performed, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Officials said Paul Moe Sr., 66, of Atlantic Highlands, was convicted at trial in October 2017 on all 14 counts of an indictment charging him with one count of wire fraud conspiracy and 13 substantive counts of wire fraud. He was convicted following a 10-day trial before U.S. District Court Judge Katharine S. Hayden, who imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to statements made in court and the evidence at trial:
From September 2015 through March 2017, Moe fraudulently collected a compensation package that paid him almost $500,000 annually while showing up at his job site for as little as eight hours per week. In order for Moe to collect his $9,300 weekly paycheck, other conspirators submitted false timesheets each day on his behalf and even credited him for up to 16 hours of overtime a day.
The 13 substantive wire fraud counts consist of one-week increments in which Moe – having either failed to appear at the job site or while being out of state or out of the country – was paid as if he had been on the job for a minimum of 40 hours a week.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Hayden sentenced Moe to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $749,000.