Two contractors who pleaded guilty in federal court to rigging the contract selection process for projects operated by the Union City Community Development Agency have contributed $4,600 to Mayor/state Senator (D-33) Brian Stack’s political campaigns and/or civic organization between May 2007 and March 2012.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Leovaldo Fundora, 53, who owned Guttenberg’s Falcon Remodeling Inc., made a co-contribution with his wife Monica to Stack’s 2007 State Senator campaign on May 8 of the same year. The donation was for $1,000, according to NJ ELEC reports.
Leo Fundora pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to a Union City CDA contract rigging scheme, where he had the aid of other contractors and two department employees, which caused losses of at least $120,000 in federal grant monies, officials said.
Monica Fundora is a councilwoman-at-large in Guttenberg, but it should be noted this contribution came two-and-a-half years before she was elected to her first term in November 2009. She was re-elected in November 2013 in a contest where her council seat was not contested.
The more recent contribution from Leo Fundora was made on March 6, 2012 to Union City First, Stack’s Civic Organization, for an amount of $1,200.
Guttenberg Town Attorney Charles Daglian told Hudson County View that “to my knowledge, Guttenberg has no contracts with [Mr. Fundora] or any companies he has operated.”
Joseph Lado, 66, who owned Union City’s Lado Construction between 2007 and 2010, pleaded guilty on December 11 to a similar contract rigging scheme that allowed him to obtain $70,000 worth of work from the agency, authorities said.
On March 1, 2010, Lado gave $1,200 to Union City First:
Lado Construction also submitted an identical contribution, for the same organization on February 13, 2012.
Lado Construction, along with the Union City CDA, was raided by the FBI in November 2012.
According to court documents, the conspiracies Lado participated in, occurred between roughly June 2007 and September 2010.
Additionally, in separate court documents, Leo Fundora obtained two separate contracts for a total of $3,900 in June 2010.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said yesterday that Lado and Leo Fundora concocted two separate schemes involving the Union City CDA and worked independent of one another.
Stack did not return calls or a voicemail seeking comment on the matter.
I would say Mr. Stack is probably in the top 3 in the entire state when it comes to SLEAZY