Miriam Friedman, $1.2 Million Procurement Fraud, New Jersey 2024

Newark, N.J. – In a move that’s left many in the business community stunned, Miriam Friedman, 54, of Teaneck, N.J., was arrested this morning on charges that she fraudulently represented her company as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business in order to obtain more than $1.2 million worth of government contracts set aside for disabled veterans.

Friedman, the owner of Office Dimensions Inc., a company in Teaneck that sells furniture and design services to industrial and government customers, surrendered to special agents from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of the Inspector General, as a result of a federal criminal complaint charging her with wire fraud.

According to the complaint unsealed today, Friedman and her husband control Office Dimensions and all its revenues, as well as run the company’s daily operations. Neither served in the U.S. military, but Friedman’s father-in-law is a retired U.S. military veteran.

On Nov. 23, 2009, Friedman certified in a central registry for government contractors that Office Dimensions was a service-disabled veteran-owned small business. In her certification, she allegedly falsely claimed that her father-in-law was the owner and operator, even though he had very little involvement with Office Dimensions and was not service-disabled. Friedman then bid for VA contracts set aside for service-disabled veterans who own their businesses.

From January 2010 through November 2011, the VA paid Office Dimensions more than $1.2 million on fraudulently obtained contracts to which Friedman was not entitled.

The wire fraud count with which Friedman was charged is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross loss or gain caused by the offense.

Friedman is scheduled to make her initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark III in Newark federal court.

The investigation leading to Friedman’s arrest was conducted by special agents of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey G. Hughes; the U.S. General Services Administration, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Adams; and IRS – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen.

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