On March 20, 2003, Robert Strom and Thomas Costas were indicted by a federal
grand jury in U.S. District Court, Trenton, New Jersey, for their roles in an
alleged government contract kickback scheme. Both were indicted for one
count of conspiracy to pay kickbacks and one count of filing a false tax
return. These indictments are the latest action in an on going criminal
investigation, in which eleven other individuals have already pled guilty.
Strom and Costas, former principals of Action Reprographics Inc., located in
New York, New York, were indicted for allegedly paying kickbacks totaling
over $1.3 million to Frederic DiNonno, an employee of Ebasco Services, Inc.
In return, DiNonno arranged for Action Reprographics to receive over $24
million worth of commercial and government graphics and printing contracts
from Ebasco. During the time of these kickback payments, Ebasco had
approximately $39 million worth of contracts with NASA.
Special Agents of the NASA Office of Inspector General, the Defense Criminal
Investigative Service; the Environmental Protection Agency Office of
Inspector General; the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General; the
Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigative Division; and the
Investigative Support Branch of the Defense Contract Audit Agency conducted
the investigation. Robert A. Farkas, Assistant United States Attorney,
District of New Jersey, Trenton, New Jersey is handling the prosecution.
Previous Releases:
2001-051, 03/23/01 – Three Plead Guilty in Government Kickback Scheme
2001-095, 09/13/01 – Former Contractor Employee Pleads Guilty
2002-013, 10/26/01 – NASA Subcontractor Pleads Guilty in Kickback Scheme
2002-033, 01/03/02 – Former NASA Subcontractors Plead Guilty in Government
Kickback Scheme
For more information on this release, please contact Joseph Kroener, Acting
Executive Officer, NASA Office of Inspector General at (202) 358-2558.
