Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., and MTA Inspector General Daniel G. Cort today announced the indictment of HVAC contractor ROCCO MECHANICAL, INC. (“ROCCO”), its president STEVEN RESTREPO, 36, and its treasurer ROCIO RESTREPO, 65, for stealing approximately $339,000 from 13 employees from September 2020 through December 2024. As alleged, the defendants systematically violated prevailing wage requirements by demanding their own employees return cash kickbacks worth an average of 22% of each paycheck. The defendants are charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree and Failure to Pay Wages in Accordance with the Labor Law, as well as 32 counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree.[1]
“The subway system is the backbone of New York City and the workers and contractors that keep it running deserve every dollar they earn,” said District Attorney Bragg. “Instead, we allege, Rocco Mechanical and its executives stole hundreds of hours’ worth of lawfully earned compensation from its employees by issuing paychecks reflecting the mandatory prevailing wage, but then brazenly requiring cash kickbacks from their own workers. I thank the MTA Inspector General’s Office and the New York City Comptroller’s Office for their partnership in ensuring that New Yorkers are paid what they are owed. I also thank the workers who came forward and urge anyone whose wages have been stolen to do the same. Call or message our Worker Protection Unit at (646) 712-0298.”
MTA Inspector General Daniel G. Cort said, “MTA contractors have a legal and moral obligation to pay their workers the prevailing wage. The defendants in this case allegedly stole MTA funds from their workers’ pockets and breached the public’s trust. I thank the employees who bravely came forward to report this matter and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and New York City Comptroller’s Office for helping to protect workers and hold corrupt MTA contractors accountable.”
ROCCO is an HVAC contractor based in Maspeth, Queens, that has worked on Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“MTA”) projects citywide since 2010. As a condition of its public contracts, Rocco was required to pay its employees prevailing wages and supplemental benefits set by the New York City Comptroller and derived from local collective bargaining agreements.
As alleged in court documents and statements made on the record in court, from September 2020 through December 2024, the defendants systematically violated those prevailing wage regulations by requiring their employees to return an average of 22% of each paycheck to ROCCO in cash kickbacks.
The alleged scheme utilized two parallel payroll systems. ROCCO submitted sworn affidavits and certified payroll reports (“CPRs”) falsely certifying that employees were paid the full prevailing wage. The CPRs classified workers as steamfitters, sheet metal workers, or plumbing mechanics and listed wage and benefit rates consistent with the Comptroller’s schedules. Relying on these false certifications, the MTA issued payments for work performed across nine MTA contracts citywide, including a project at the 14th Street-6th Avenue station in Manhattan.
ROCCO simultaneously maintained an internal payroll system reflecting substantially lower wages. After issuing paychecks that matched the CPR amounts, ROCCO allegedly required employees to return a portion of those wages in cash kickbacks. In total, those kickbacks amounted to approximately $339,000.
Workers who questioned the practice or failed to pay in full were allegedly punished through reduced hours or threats that they would lose work.
Assistant D.A. Rachana Pathak (Chief of the Worker Protection Unit) is handling the prosecution of this case under the supervision of Assistant D.A.s Christopher Beard (Deputy Chief of the Rackets Bureau), Christopher Conroy (Chief of the Rackets Bureau) and Judy Salwen (Deputy Chief of the Investigation Division) and Executive Assistant D.A. Jodie Kane (Chief of the Investigation Division). Paralegals Lilah Hixson and Ava Thomas assisted with the investigation, as did Investigators Haley Fitzpatrick and May Dempsey, Sergeant Genesis Cornielle, and Lieutenant Patrick O’Brien.
District Attorney Bragg thanked the MTA Inspector General’s Office and the New York City Comptroller’s Office for their assistance with the investigation.
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[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.