Manhattan, New York - A New York construction executive was sentenced Tuesday in Manhattan federal court to 46 months in prison for evading taxes on more than $1.4 million in bribes he received from building subcontractors.
According to the criminal information, as well as other public documents and recent court proceedings, between 2011 and 2017, Ronald Olson of Long Island, New York, was Vice President and Deputy Operations Manager at Turner Construction Company, a construction firm that performed building projects in New York City for Bloomberg LLP. Olson used his position to participate in a scheme to obtain bribes from construction subcontractors, who paid kickbacks in exchange for construction contracts and subcontracts. In total, Olson received approximately $1,450,000 in unlawful cash payments, which he did not report on his 2011 to 2017 tax returns. Olson also received bribes in the form of renovations and improvement projects at his Long Island residence and his Long Beach Island, New Jersey, beach house.
In related proceedings, co-conspirator Anthony Guzzone, a former Director of Global Construction at Bloomberg, was sentenced on Jan. 19, 2021, by the Honorable Lewis J. Liman to 38 months in prison for evading taxes on more than $1.45 million in bribes in the same scheme; Michael Campana, a subordinate construction manager at Bloomberg also involved in the same scheme, was sentenced on July 24, 2020, by the Honorable Denise L. Cote to 24 months in prison, for evading taxes on more than $420,000 in bribes. In addition, Vito Nigro, a construction manager at Turner, has pleaded guilty to evading taxes on more than $1.8 million in bribes that he received due to his involvement, and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 1, before U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss for the Southern District of New York made the announcement.
IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Senior Litigation Counsel Stanley J. Okula of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Raymond Lewis of the Southern District of New York’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit are in charge of the prosecution.
