TRENTON, NJ-A federal bankruptcy judge has authorized bonus payments be made to executives and employees of Birdsall Services Group, the engineering firm that is charged with making political contributions to get government contracts.
After a Monday hearing, Judge Michael B. Kaplan agreed with the company's contention the payments are necessary to retain employees at least until the now-bankrupt company can be sold. The approved plan would dole out a total of $728,300 in payments ranging from $500 to $15,000 to individual employees.
The company had requested $205,000 in bonuses for executives and $523,300 to the other employees, and Kaplan agreed to that.
Any employee who winds up being indicted in the alleged “pay-to-play” scheme, is ineligible, the judge specified in his order. Seven Birdsall executives were indicted in March and charged with money laundering and conspiracy.
Political contributions by the company were masked as individual contributions of less than $300 – that is, less than the minimum that must be reported under state election law - by employees, according to the charges. Employees were later reimbursed with bonus payments from the company.
The bankruptcy judge ordered that 19 executives and almost 200 Birdsall employees be given bonuses if they stick with the company now. They would be paid half when they agree to stay, and the other half immediately after sale of the company
“The key employees, who maintain relationships with many of the valuable customers, see no future with Birdsall and are being pursued by competitors for employment,” Edwin H. Stier, the trustee overseeing Birdsall's Chapter 11 reorganization, had argued in a court filing.
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