Two Middlesex County Men Indicted For Somerset County Bid-Stealing Scheme

Two Middlesex County men have been indicted by a Somerset County Court for an alleged bid-stealing scheme carried out in 2012.

According to a press release from the Somerset County Prosector’s Office, Gabriel J. Blardony, 34, of Piscataway, and Christopher L. Koller, 37, of South Plainfield have been charged with multiple theft and forgery counts.

In 2012, Blardony failed to contact McPuff Chimney Services, L.L.C., in regards to a contract bid they were awarded for $65,000 to repair over 100 chimneys at the Polo Club Association of Far Hills - Blardony worked as a property manager there.

Instead, he conspired with Koller to secretly hire a third-party contractor at a lower rate than what was awarded to McPuff and split the left over proceeds.

Once the work was complete, Blardonyand Koller submitted false invoices to the Polo Club with McPuff’s name on it, which the club paid. The pair paid the third-party contractor and kept about $7,000 each for themselves, according to the release.

Detectives do not believe the third-party contractor was aware of the scheme. It wasn’t until residents of the Polo Club complained of water damage in 2014 that the association called McPuff’s and realized they did not do the repairs.

Blardony and Koller were arrested by Somerset County detectives and remain free on R.O.R. bail.

They have both been charged with with two counts of 3rd Degree Identity Theft, 3rd Degree Theft, 3rd Degree Tampering with Public Records, 3rd Degree Forgery, 3rd Degree Uttering a Forged Instrument, 3rd Degree Theft by Deception and could face three to five years in prison if convicted.