Wrentham Man Sentenced for Fraud Conspiracy in Relation to Planned Renovation of McCormack Courthouse

The owner of a Lakeville construction company was sentenced Thursday for conspiring to defraud the government in connection with the renovation of the John W. McCormack U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in Boston.

Wael Isreb, 55, of Wrentham, was sentenced to four years of probation, which includes 18 months of home confinement. Isreb is also ordered to pay $164,627 in restitution.

In September 2006, the Government Services Administration (GSA) retained Suffolk Construction Company as the general contractor to renovate the McCormack Building. Suffolk Construction then hired Taunton Forms and Construction as a subcontractor to perform certain concrete work on that project. Isreb was the owner of the now-defunct Taunton Forms. Suffolk Construction paid the company in excess of $1 million to fund the project.

Federal law requires contractors to pay their workers a prevailing wage on projects that cost over $2,000. Contractors are also required to submit weekly reports certifying the wages that they paid their employees.

In December 2007, Isreb conspired with Dasilva and others to pay Taunton Forms workers less than the prevailing wage while certifying to Suffolk Construction, the GSA, and the United States Department of Labor (DOL) that Taunton Forms was carrying out the prevailing wage requirement.

The defendants also agreed to falsely report to the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) that the Taunton Forms workers had been laid off. Additionally, Isreb failed to withhold applicable payroll taxes. The Criminal Investigation division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was one of the investigation agencies in this case.

Isreb and his co-defendant, Aluisio Dasilva, 67, of Hudson, Mass., each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and false statements last July.