Robert R. Dattilo, Defrauding Customers, New Jersey 2023

TRENTON, N.J. – A part owner of Bayway Lumber, a Linden, New Jersey, company that sold commercial and industrial products to numerous public and private entities, was sentenced to 48 months in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud customers out of $708,386.

Robert R. Dattilo, 61, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, from 2007 to November 2015, Dattilo conspired with others to defraud certain customers by engaging in fraudulent business practices, including overbilling, charging for more expensive items or larger quantities of items, and providing free items to employees of customers, then recouping the cost of the items (and additional profits) by overbilling and fraudulent billing.

The schemes, which targeted several public and private entities, including the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and its successor entities, Rutgers University and University Hospital; the City of Elizabeth; and the New York Transit Authority, resulted in losses of over $700,000.

Dattilo also conspired to provide certain customers with lower-quality lumber than the customers ordered and paid for, and then issued invoices to customers that falsely described the lower-quality lumber as the higher-quality lumber that the customers ordered.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Sheridan sentenced Dattilo to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $708,386 and a $2,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman credited special agents with the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christina Scaringi; special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher; and the Office of Inspector General, Amtrak, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Robert Koons, for their roles in the investigation.

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