N.J. military contractor pleads guilty in $1.4 million fraud scheme

A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty Tuesday in connection with a $1.4 million fraud scheme involving construction projects at military facilities in New Jersey, federal prosecutors said.

James Conway, 45, of Lackawanna County, was a regional manager for a construction company that handled projects at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and the Picatinny Arsenal. While in that job from 2009 to 2015, he steered subcontracts to a business he owned secretly.

His company was called Walsh Construction, and Conway signed the subcontracts as the fictitious owner, Keith Walsh. He sometimes billed his true employer, which was based in Oklahoma, for work Walsh Construction did not perform, prosecutors said.

Conway also accepted $180,345 in kickbacks from four of the Oklahoma company's subcontractors in exchange for favorable treatment.

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