Westlake Man Sentenced for Role in Bribery Scheme

Robert J. Kassouf was sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay $682,130 in restitution for his role in a bribery scheme involving the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Kassouf, 62, formerly of Westlake, Ohio, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in federally funded programs.

“Today’s sentencing sends yet another clear message about my office’s commitment to stamping out public corruption,” Dettelbach said. “There is no place for bribery and self-dealing in Northern Ohio.”

Kassouf was the president, and subsequently owner, of the Kassouf Company, located in Cleveland, Ohio.

William B. Schatz was the General Counsel of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) from 1979 until his retirement in August 2007. During his tenure, the NEORSD had major sewage tunnel contracts including the Mill Creek Tunnel Contract, Phases 2 and 3. The Kassouf Company, as part of a Joint Venture with 3 other companies, was one of several contractors who were awarded contracts to complete work on Mill Creek Tunnel Contract (MCT-2) and Mill Creek Tunnel Contract (MCT-3).

Stanley Lojek was the president of Harvard Refuse, Inc., also located in Cleveland, Ohio, which provided, among other things, parking lot and machine rentals to the Kassouf Company and the Joint Venture.

From in or about 2004, and continuing until on or about April 26, 2007, Kassouf conspired with Schatz and Lojek to unjustly enrich Schatz by paying him over $600,000 during the same time period that the Joint Venture had disputed claims arising from MCT-2 and MCT-3 pending before NEORSD. These payments were made in an effort to influence or reward Schatz in connection with NEORSD legal settlements, according to court documents..

The conspirators accomplished this by Schatz invoicing Harvard Refuse, Inc. for legal services that were not performed and receiving checks from Harvard Refuse, Inc; Lojek, in turn, invoiced Kassouf and the Joint Venture for payments not due Harvard Refuse, Inc. Kassouf and the Joint Venture, in turn, paid these invoices knowing that the money would be paid to Schatz.

Schatz and Lojek previously pleaded guilty to crimes related to their roles in the scheme. Last year Schatz was sentenced to 70 months in prison while Lojek was sentenced to one year in prison.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Justin J. Roberts, following an investigation by the Cleveland offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division.