Felony Forgery Charges Against Company Hired to Demolish Joplin High After Tornado
By: Briauna Brown
Updated: December 18, 2012
JOPLIN, MO--- Attorney General Chris Koster and Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney Dean Dankelson today charged Urban Metropolitan Development (UMD) of Atlanta and UMD project manager Jennifer Taylor with five counts each of failure to pay prevailing wage. Both UMD and Taylor were also charged with ten felony counts of forgery for allegedly altering copies of checks before submitting them to the state as proof that the company paid their workers the prevailing wage rate as required by law.
According to Koster, UMD received contracts to demolish three schools that were destroyed by the May 2011 tornado - Irving Elementary School, Old South Middle School, and Joplin High School. The public works projects come under Missouri's prevailing wage law, which requires workers on public projects to receive no less than the prevailing hourly wage, which is set before a project begins and is based on the county and the type of work.
Under the prevailing wage law, UMD was required to submit weekly certified payrolls to the Missouri Department of Labor. As part of their oversight, the labor department requested that the company also submit copies of payroll checks to workers on the project. Koster alleges that UMD and Taylor altered copies of checks to make it appear workers were paid prevailing wages, and submitted the forged documents to the Department of Labor and Joplin Public Schools.
"It has been an important goal of the Attorney General's Office to ensure that no individuals profit unfairly from the tragedy of the Joplin tornado," says Koster. "Today we are alleging that a company hired to help the city's schools move forward took advantage of the situation by knowingly paying workers less than the prevailing wage and forging documents to cover it up."
"While every prevailing wage case is considered serious because it steals money from the pockets of working families, the allegations of forgeries submitted to the Department of Labor makes this case particularly egregious," says Koster.
Felony forgery is punishable by up to seven years in prison as well as fines up to $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for businesses. Each instance of failure to pay prevailing wage carries a fine of up to $500 or up to 6 months in prison, or both.
The charges against the defendants are merely accusations. As in all criminal cases, the defendants are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty.
According to Koster, UMD received contracts to demolish three schools that were destroyed by the May 2011 tornado - Irving Elementary School, Old South Middle School, and Joplin High School. The public works projects come under Missouri's prevailing wage law, which requires workers on public projects to receive no less than the prevailing hourly wage, which is set before a project begins and is based on the county and the type of work.
Under the prevailing wage law, UMD was required to submit weekly certified payrolls to the Missouri Department of Labor. As part of their oversight, the labor department requested that the company also submit copies of payroll checks to workers on the project. Koster alleges that UMD and Taylor altered copies of checks to make it appear workers were paid prevailing wages, and submitted the forged documents to the Department of Labor and Joplin Public Schools.
"It has been an important goal of the Attorney General's Office to ensure that no individuals profit unfairly from the tragedy of the Joplin tornado," says Koster. "Today we are alleging that a company hired to help the city's schools move forward took advantage of the situation by knowingly paying workers less than the prevailing wage and forging documents to cover it up."
"While every prevailing wage case is considered serious because it steals money from the pockets of working families, the allegations of forgeries submitted to the Department of Labor makes this case particularly egregious," says Koster.
Felony forgery is punishable by up to seven years in prison as well as fines up to $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for businesses. Each instance of failure to pay prevailing wage carries a fine of up to $500 or up to 6 months in prison, or both.
The charges against the defendants are merely accusations. As in all criminal cases, the defendants are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty.
