December 22, 2007

Schoor Depalma

Schoor accused of paying ex-Ocean Twp. mayor for business

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 12/15/06

BY JEAN MIKLE AND ERIK LARSEN, STAFF WRITERS

NEWARK — Howard M. Schoor, who founded one of the largest civil engineering firms in New Jersey, was indicted Thursday on charges that he paid $16,000 in bribes to two Ocean Township officials in an effort to secure government business for his company.

Schoor, 67, of Manalapan, is accused of paying bribes to former Ocean Township Mayor Terrance D. Weldon and Stephen D. Kessler, former chairman of the Township of Ocean Sewerage Authority, between 1998 and 2001.

U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie said Schoor gave out the bribes while his firm, Schoor DePalma Engineers and Consultants, was seeking to get and maintain large contracts with the sewerage authority.

Among the business the firm received was work in connection with $4 million to $7.8 million in capital improvements for the sewerage authority, from which Schoor DePalma expected to receive $600,000 to $850,000 in fees, Christie said.

The firm has been cooperating with the federal investigation and is not accused of wrongdoing, Christie said. The firm, with headquarters in Manalapan, employs more than 1,100 people at 25 offices in six states.

Schoor's indictment is the latest in a series of charges against elected officials, developers and contractors in Monmouth County. An FBI sting called Operation Bid Rig resulted in the arrests of 11 county officials on Feb. 22, 2005.

Kessler admitted in federal court in July 2005 that he took part of a $15,000 bribe to steer business to Schoor DePalma. In October 2002, Weldon pleaded guilty in federal court to using his office as mayor to extort $64,000 from three developers to get their housing projects approved in Ocean Township.

Schoor's lawyer, Justin P. Walder, said in a prepared statement that the sewerage authority selected Schoor DePalma to oversee its capital improvement program in February 2001 "based on its history of providing quality and professional engineering services" to the authority over a 20-year period.

"The true facts will vindicate Howard Schoor and refute the false allegations that impugn the integrity of the honest and hard-working people affiliated with the sewerage authority," Walder said.

Ocean Township resident Kenneth Moser, 65, said he was not surprised by Schoor's indictment.

"I'm not surprised by anything," Moser, of Wildwood Road, said. He has lived in Ocean Township all his life and raised a family there. "In New Jersey, what's the expression? . . . There are two kinds of guys: those in jail and those who haven't been caught yet."

Schoor, who founded the engineering firm in 1968, resigned as chairman and chief executive officer in 1992 in order to pursue business interests outside the company, according to a statement released Thursday by Schoor DePalma. The company said Schoor's involvement with the firm has been limited since then, and he formally retired on Aug. 5, 2005.

Walder's statement said Schoor "has not been active" with the firm since 1992.

But the indictment handed up Thursday said Schoor paid Weldon $1,000 at a Jackson golf course between 1998 and 1999, paid Kessler $5,000 in or about 2000, gave Kessler $5,000 again in May 2001 in Freehold, and made a third $5,000 payment to Kessler between Nov. 12 and Nov. 16, 2001, in Atlantic City.

The payments made to Kessler were meant to be shared with Weldon, according to the indictment. Schoor also gave Kessler free use of his condominium in Boca Raton, Fla., on several occasions.

The indictment says Schoor made the payments in cash in order to avoid an audit.

Schoor was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the public of the honest services of officials of Ocean Township and the Township of Ocean Sewerage Authority. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Christie said.

After the charges against Weldon became public, Schoor wrote a letter to Ocean Township officials.

"The undersigned and (the engineering firm) appreciates our long-term relationship, and you are assured that former Mayor Weldon, or anyone else in the township, has never asked us to provide favorable treatment or to give special consideration to any person or any project within the township," Schoor wrote.

Similarly, when he resigned from Schoor DePalma on Aug. 5, 2005, Schoor said in a letter to the firm that he had never engaged in wrongdoing on behalf of himself or Schoor DePalma during his career, Christie said.

Township Manager David R. Kochel said residents will be disappointed, but not shocked, that Schoor has been accused in the continuing corruption probe under Weldon's leadership.

"I don't really know what he is accused of doing," Kochel said. "Certainly, there were Asbury Park Press articles that said Kessler was pleading guilty to having taken bribes from an engineer in his relationship with the sewer authority. The only engineer they dealt with was Schoor DePalma. So, no, it doesn't come as a surprise."

Ocean Township resident Brian Lefferson, 52, of Cliftwood Road, owns a landscaping business in town and has taken a greater interest in local politics since Weldon pleaded guilty in 2002.

"Our elected officials who are there now . . . They have not stepped up to the plate as far as I'm concerned," Lefferson said. "There are things going on in this town that should not be going on."

Moser said his beloved Ocean Township has become a poster town along the Jersey Shore for suburban corruption.

"(But) it's not indicative of Ocean Township," Moser said. "Look at politics all over. It's nationwide. We have a town that used to be relatively small. It's gotten larger with time, and the people entrusted to run it got greedy."

Ocean Township Mayor William F. Larkin could not be reached for comment Thursday night.