DA: Massapequa contractor falsified bids on public projects, failed to properly pay workers
A Massapequa contractor was arrested Tuesday on charges he falsified bid applications on several taxpayer-funded public works projects in Suffolk County and failed to pay his workers’ benefits, officials said.
Nicholas Analitis, 44, of Massapequa, and his West Babylon-based company, Gorilla Contracting Group LLC, were each charged with eight counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and 10 counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and failure to pay prevailing wages, according to a news release from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Analitis and Gorilla Contracting allegedly filed false bids for the following projects: the Town of Babylon’s Carlls River watershed project; the Town of Islip’s MacArthur Airport runway reconstruction; the Village of Babylon’s Argyle Falls project; and public works projects for the Port Jefferson School District and the West Islip School District, according to a DA’s office investigation.
The Village of Babylon and the West Islip School District awarded contracts to Analitis and Gorilla Contracting.
Analitis’ defense attorney, Lawrence Carrà, said his client pleaded not guilty at his arraignment.
"It appears that Mr. Analitis is improperly portrayed as the owner of the contracting company. At the present time, he has professed his innocence and has requested a jury trial," Carrà said.
According to prosecutors, between April 2020 and February 2021, Analitis, acting in concert with Gorilla Contracting, allegedly provided fraudulent surety and performance bonds to several Suffolk municipalities while submitting bid packages. The bids also falsely listed the names of the managing partner or owner of Gorilla Contracting, prosecutors said.
Analitis forged the name of a woman without her knowledge to represent that person as a manager of Gorilla Contracting in order to be considered a minority- or woman-owned business as defined by Babylon Village’s procurement process, prosecutors said.
The defendants also allegedly failed to pay supplemental benefits as required by law to Laborers Local 1298 workers, according to prosecutors. The investigation into the failure to pay prevailing wages is ongoing.
"These defendants filed false information in an attempt to win contracts over companies that play by the rules," Suffolk District Attorney Timothy Sini said in a statement. "In the contracts they were awarded under false pretenses, which were funded with taxpayer dollars, they did not pay their workers their fair share. We will not tolerate the exploitation of workers in this county, particularly on the taxpayers’ dime."
If convicted of the top count, Analitis faces a maximum sentence of 2-1/3 to 7 years in prison.
Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.