Saturday, October 18, 2008

Former Mount Vernon Purchasing Agent Convicted of accepting bribe from Ricoh Americas Corp Rep


We at the Ricoh Family Group P4P Hotel have followed this closely and posted many comments, since it hits so close to home. A former head of purchasing for Mount Vernon School District has been convicted for accepting bribes, below is the press release from the local Mount Vernon paper. I don't know the law, but I feel that the sales rep and Ricoh Americas Corp should also be held accoutable for offering the bribe, right??

WHITE PLAINS – The former head of purchasing for the Mount Vernon City School District was convicted Friday of bribe receiving, official misconduct and receiving unlawful gratuities.Arthur Rose, 49, of Mount Vernon, was convicted in Westchester County Court on two counts of bribe receiving as felonies, three counts of official misconduct as misdemeanors and one count of receiving unlawful gratuities as a misdemeanor.

Between mid-June and mid-July 2005, rose, the former head of purchasing at the school district, accepted a bribe of $3,500 from a sales representative of Ricoh Americans Corporation for his assurance that the company would receive a five year contract from the district for 73 digital copiers, support products and related services.On August 3, 2005, based on Rose’s recommendation, the school district gave Ricoh the contract which exceeded $1 million.

Between June and September 2006, Rose solicited and received a bribe in the form of a $10,000 donation to his church from the owner of Tri-State Supply Company, a custodial supply company, in exchange for future business, which was later awarded.When sentenced, Rose faces up to seven years in state prison.

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