A former school official on Long Island is facing charges for allegedly scheming with a restaurateur in a million-dollar kickback scheme, federal authorities announced.
An indictment was unsealed on Thursday, May 19 charging Lindenhurst resident Sharon Gardner, age 56, the former Director of Food Services for the Hempstead Union Free School District, and Elmont resident Maria Caliendo, age 57, in the scam.
US Attorney Breon Peace said that Gardner and Caliendo – the owner of foodservice providers Smart Starts NY, Inc. and Prince Umberto’s restaurant in Franklin Square – have been charged with conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud in connection with a kickback scheme involving contracts between the school and restaurateur.
“As alleged, Gardner and Caliendo engaged in a scheme in which Gardner steered more than $1 million in sole-source school breakfast contracts to Caliendo’s company, in spite of the fact more cost-effective options existed,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael Driscoll said in a statement.
“In exchange, Caliendo illicitly paid more than $100,000 in kickbacks to Gardner, which she used to purchase a variety of personal luxuries.”
According to the indictment, Gardner helped secure lucrative contracts for Smart Starts to provide pre-packaged breakfast meals for Hempstead students, calling her a “sole-source” vendor of breakfast food.
Prosecutors said in doing so, it helped avoid competitive bidding…
