Glen Cove Businessman Arrested for Wage Theft, Kickbacks

By Samantha Carey

The Nassau District Attorney has arrested Angelo Stanco of Glen Head, and charged him and his business American Paving & Masonry Corp of Glen Cove, with theft, stealing checks, labor violations and demanding wage kickbacks from employees.

Arrested is Angelo Stanco, age 58. He and his company American Paving & Masonry Corp. were arraigned on Sept. 12th.

They were charged with grand larceny, failure to pay the prevailing wage, and forgery for allegedly demanding employee kickback checks they were entitled to receive.

Stanco and his company pleaded not guilty, and if convicted he could face two and one third to seven years in prison, along with a five-year prohibition from bidding upon or working on public works contracts.

“This defendant and his company allegedly failed to abide by the law, underpaying employees their rightful wages, and then doubled down on this unlawful behavior by demanding kickbacks, threatening employees with termination if they did not comply, or stealing restitution checks outright,” said Anne Donnelly, the Nassau District Attorney. “Some of the defendant’s employees were not aware they were due thousands of dollars in wages.”

On July 14, 2018, Stanco and the American Paving & Masonry Corp. executed two stipulations with the New York State Department of Labor, Public Work Bureau, according to the charges stated by Donnelly.

They were ordered and 25 restitution checks were sent out to 22 employees for underpayments and interest on Dec. 7, 2018. Allegedly between Dec. 13, 2018 and Jan. 3, 2019, Stanco and his company demanded these checks back from the employees - as a “condition to their future employment” - totaling to $42,595.

Donnelly is cracking down on wage theft, starting with new provisions of the New York State Penal Law, that will deem this offense in the definition of the larceny statute, according to the release.

“This law is a great tool in the battle against wage theft and labor trafficking,” Donnelly said. “This is a tremendous win for Nassau County workers who are often underpaid, or even unpaid, by unscrupulous employers.”

Stanco and his company will return to court on Oct. 11.