Bucks County Men Sentenced To Jail For Stealing Overtime Pay: Attorney General

Two former New Jersey state employees from Bucks County have been sentenced to jail for falsifying timesheets to steal thousands of dollars in overtime pay, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced Friday.

According to authorities, Harish Bhanderi, 53, of Newtown and Alkesh Desai, 63, of Bensalem falsified records and used state vehicles for personal use while employed by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Bhanderi submitted more than 100 false overtime claims totaling $19,905 between June 2013 and June 2014, Hoffman said.

Desai submitted 71 false overtime claims totaling $14,882 between June 2013 and June 2014, Hoffman said.

Banderi was sentenced to 364 days in Mercer County Jail as a condition of three years of probation, with the jail sentence to be served at the end of the term of probation. He paid full restitution of $19,905.

Bhanderi forfeited his job as manager of the DOT Roadway Maintenance, Engineering and Operations Section and is permanently barred from public employment in New Jersey, Hoffman said.

Desai, 63, of Bensalem, Pa., was sentenced to 364 days in the county jail as a condition of three years of probation, with the jail sentence to be served at the end of the term of probation. He was ordered to pay $14,882 in restitution.

Desai also forfeited his job as a DOT engineer. Desai had been acting as the supervisor of the Drainage Bureau; he is permanently barred from public employment in New Jersey.

“It’s outrageous that these DOT supervisors were driving around after hours in a state vehicle for the sole purpose of dishonestly racking up overtime hours and pay,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “We will aggressively prosecute any state workers who fraudulently enrich themselves at the expense of New Jersey taxpayers.”

According to Hoffman, the investigation revealed that Desai and Bhanderi submitted time sheets seeking overtime pay for responding after hours to emergency roadway incidents.

“In reality, they were not responding to emergencies after hours, but were simply driving their state vehicles past sites where emergencies had occurred days or even weeks earlier,” Hoffman said.

Authorities also say Desai used a state vehicle to make 96 trips to Philadelphia, sometimes twice a day to drive his daughter to and from college.

Personal use of a state vehicle is prohibited in New Jersey.

“These sentences should serve as a deterrent to any other government workers who would consider stealing public funds by lying about their overtime work,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “We urge anyone with information about this type of abuse to contact us confidentially, so that those responsible can be aggressively investigated and prosecuted.”