Electrical contractor bilked SCA

From the NY Times:

A Queens electrical contractor bilked the Department of Education of more than $1 million by submitting fraudulent invoices, falsifying payrolls and charging for work that was never completed, according to allegations released Wednesday by Richard J. Condon, the special commissioner of investigation for the city schools.

The allegations against Kostas (Gus) Andrikopoulos, the owner of Hara Electric Corporation in Astoria, come one month after the state attorney general’s office charged him with skimming more than $2 million off the top of separate School Construction Authority projects since 2005.

The Hara Electric Corporation received some $20 million in contracting work from the School Construction Authority, serving as the contractor on nine projects and the subcontractor on 32 more, according to the attorney general’s office. Mr. Andrikopoulos has been charged with 385 counts of falsifying business documents, among other charges, and faces up to 25 years if convicted.