By Craig Giammona
According to the office of the Queens district attorney, Jerry Bass, 39, who operated offices out of his homes at 115-39 Dunkirk St. in St. Albans and 130 West 117th St. in Manhattan, is accused of attempting to defraud the city Department of Environmental Protection, Queens homeowners and a golf course in Nassau County by selling the contaminated waste as “clean fill” and then attempting to bill the city for its disposal. Bass allegedly forged $75,000 worth of dump receipts and attempted to use the documents to prove that he had disposed of the waste at a Jamaica transfer station, the Queens DA said. He also has allegedly been transporting waste around New York for several years, according to the authorities.Bass, who is the president of B&B Trucking, is charged with grand larceny, forgery, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a forged instrument, defrauding the government and prohibited disposal and unlawful operation of a business for removal of trade waste, the DA's office said.If convicted, Bass faces up to seven years in prison and fines of as much as $22,500 for each environmental violation. Bass's company, B&B trucking, could also face fines, a spokeswoman for DA Richard Brown said.Brown's spokeswoman said Bass's bail was set at $20,000 Friday. A second court date had not been set as of press time.”Allegedly driven by greed and with a total disregard for the health and safety of people and the environment, the defendant is accused of swindling both New York City government and others by circumventing the procedures that the city takes to ensure the safe disposal of contaminated waste,” Brown said. According to the DA's office, Bass was hired as subcontractor in 2004 by a Glendale company that had signed a contract with the DEP to remove contaminated solid waste from various locations around the metropolitan area and transport it to a transfer station. But according to the criminal complaint, Bass allegedly sold the waste for profit, then forged dump receipts totaling $75,000 from Jamaica Recycling, a transfer station in Jamaica. Bass allegedly submitted the receipts to the DEP and received $10,000 before the fraud was discovered, according to the DA's office.
