Construction Contractors Failed to Pay Wages

NEW YORK, NY —  AVM Construction Corp., of Valley Stream, NY, has failed to pay proper prevailing wages to workers related to a publicly-funded New York City construction project.   

The defendants, Vickram Mangru and his wife Gayatri Mangru were sentenced in Bronx County Supreme Court. Vickram Mangru will serve 30 days in jail, followed by 3 years of probation, after his felony conviction of Failure to Pay Prevailing Wages and Benefits. Gaytari Mangru was sentenced to a Conditional Discharge as result of her misdemeanor conviction on the same charge. The defendants both pled guilty to the charges on February 11, 2019, and have paid $80,000 in restitution to three workers. The remaining $201,630.09 was subject to an Order of restitution issued by the court.

“My office has zero tolerance for unscrupulous, predatory actors who flout the law and cheat workers out of their wages – that’s why we debarred this contractor,” said New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer. “The defendant, in this case, was forbidden from obtaining contracts for public works projects in New York City and State after he was found to be violating our labor laws. We referred this case to the Attorney General’s Office after Mangru created a new company in an attempt to continue operating in New York City, but was allegedly still committing labor violations. There’s no place in New York for these kind of acts, and my office will always fight to break the grip of those who cheat our workers – finger by finger.”

Between December 22, 2012 and February 14, 2015, Vickram Mangru—as owner of Vick Construction and operator of AVM Construction Corp.—failed to pay several of his employees’ proper prevailing wages for construction and repair work on several public schools in the Bronx. State law requires that on certain construction projects designated as “public works,” workers must be paid a pre-determined industry minimum wage per hour, plus a benefit rate, collectively known as a “prevailing wage rate.”

Instead of paying prevailing wage rate, Vickram Mangru allegedly paid his workers between $120 and $160/day for 40-50 hours worked per week—an amount far less than what his employees were owed under the prevailing wage rate. To cover up the crime, Vickram Mangru falsified Certified Payroll Records and Reports submitted to the New York City Department of Education.