Transportation Magnate Sentenced For School Bus Fraud

Richard Brega cheated Rockland BOCES for years, bribing an official there to pay on phony invoices for work that was never done. Now Brega, who once had a lot of clout in Rockland County, will go to prison.

Brega was sentenced Monday to 50 months in prison for bribery, fraud, and theft from a program receiving government funds. He had been found guilty by a jury at the conclusion of a three-week trial in May. The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Kenneth M. Karas.

“The successful prosecution of Richard Brega demonstrates the commitment of the federal government to rooting out corruption and fraud in Rockland County and throughout the Hudson Valley," Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in the announcement. "The taxpayers and the schoolchildren and their families there deserve far better than the criminal scheming Brega gave them. The sentence imposed today serves a stern reminder that the criminal path Brega chose leads to one place: prison.”

At the time Brega was indicted, his political connections went deep.

His transportation companies had five contracts with the county, including the Department of Health's pre-school and Early Intervention transportation contract, the Brega DOT Maintenance and Automotive Repair contracts, the Brega Commercial Collision contract and the operation of Transport of Rockland and TAPPAN ZEExpress bus services.

SEE:

• Legislators Award Bus Contract To Brega
• Legislators Criticize County Exec Over Bus Contracts
• Legislators Override County Executive's Veto
• New Operator Takes Over TOR and TZx Bus Service

But it was not a county contract that brought the law down on him. It was a contract with the Rockland Board of Cooperative Educational Services.

Rockland BOCES serves eight school districts in Rockland County. Among the services that Rockland BOCES offers to its students – particularly children with special physical, intellectual, and emotional needs – is transportation, for which it has a fleet of buses and other vehicles, some of which are specially equipped for students with physical disabilities.

Rockland BOCES receives federal funding each year, often in excess of $1 million.

Brega owned and controlled Brega D.O.T. Maintenance Corp., a fleet-maintenance repair shop.

From in or about 2008 or 2009, through in or about 2015, Brega DOT provided vehicle repair service and maintenance for the Rockland BOCES bus fleet, including regular preventive maintenance, which is supposed to involve a thorough and detailed inspection and testing of the buses at Brega DOT’s facility, designed to ensure that the buses are defect-free and safe to operate with children aboard.

Brega DOT also created invoices documenting the work done and provided those invoices to Rockland BOCES for payment. Rockland BOCES’ director of transportation, William Popkave, would then approve the invoice as accurately stating work that was performed on Rockland BOCES buses, and Rockland BOCES would mail payment to Brega DOT.

From in or about 2012 through in or about 2014, Brega stole money from Rockland
BOCES by, among other things, billing the agency for Preventive Maintenance inspections that were never performed.

To do so, Brega directed his employees to prepare fraudulent invoices, as well as fraudulent supporting documentation, giving the false appearance that his company had performed regular Preventive Maintenance inspections on certain buses, when in fact those buses were not even brought to Brega DOT and Preventive Maintenance inspections were not performed.

Brega bribed Popkave – who oversaw upkeep and maintenance of the BOCES buses – with tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of free personal vehicle repairs.

Popkave sent Brega lists of buses and their mileages so that Brega could create fraudulent invoices and supporting documentation, and then Popkave would approve payment.

Popkave, 62, of Rockland County, pled guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge
Judith C. McCarthy on Jan. 24, 2017, to five counts: (1) conspiracy to commit mail fraud,
which carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison; (2) mail fraud, which carries a
maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison; (3) theft concerning a program receiving
federal funds, which carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison; (4) bribery
concerning a program receiving federal funds, which carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison; and (5) obstruction of justice, which carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison.

Brega, 51, of Rockland County, was convicted of three counts: (1) mail fraud, (2) bribery concerning a program receiving federal funds, and (3) theft from a program receiving federal funds.

The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as the sentencing of Popkave will be determined by the judge at a future date.

Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, and the United States Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General. Berman also thanked the United States Department of Education, Office of Inspector General, for its assistance.

This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael D. Maimin and Benjamin Allee are in charge of the prosecution.

Corruption in Rockland County has been called endemic.

SEE ALSO:

• Sparaco Pleads Guilty in Electoral Fraud Case
• Gromack Part of Federal Ethics Investigation
• Special Prosecutor's Clerk Accused Of Corruption In Rockland
• FBI Arrests 7 Over $14 Million Rockland Yeshiva Tech Fraud
• Rockland Suspends Brega, Bus Companies Under Indictment
• Illegal School Holding Classes In Stadium Funded Through Fraud
• Ruling on Takeover of Spring Valley Democratic Committee
• Plea in Ramapo Development Agency Fraud Case
• St. Lawrence Resigns Chairmanship of County Boards
• Reaction to Ramapo Indictments: Calls for Review, Reform
• Senate Passes Legislation to Fight Illegal Housing in Ramapo
• Rockland Throws Down the Gauntlet to Ramapo, other Rockland Developers
• Town Supervisor Stadium Fraud Verdict: Officials, Prosecutors Respond
• FBI Raids New City Test Lab
• FBI in Spring Valley Again
• Desmaret Sentenced in Spring Valley Bribery Scheme
• "Corridor of Corruption" Scandal Nets Another Guilty Plea
• Spring Valley Building Inspector, Businessman Indicted
• State Slaps Ramapo on Private-school Fire Inspections
• Firefighters, Officials Call for State to Intervene in Ramapo, Spring Valley Code Enforcement
• Tress Resigns from Ramapo Town Board as Part of Plea Bargain
• East Ramapo Trustee Accused of Using Fake In-District Address
• Director Takes Plea in Ramapo Development Agency Fraud Case

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