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Glenn Griffin, the owner of Griffin's Landscaping Corporation, and Robert Dyckman, the former assistant general foreman with the Town of Cortlandt, were both arrested on Thursday, July 21, according to Damian Williams, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Griffin, age 53, of Cortlandt Manor, and Dyckman, age 51, of Verplanck, are both charged in a scheme to dump hundreds of truckloads of unauthorized materials at a Cortlandt facility, Williams said.
“As alleged, Robert Dyckman, a former Town of Cortlandt employee, used his position of trust to enrich himself by allowing Glenn Griffin to dump unauthorized materials at the Town’s facility, which will cost the Town as much as $1.5 million to clean up," Willaims said. "Griffin is also alleged to have defrauded the village of Croton-on-Hudson and the hamlet of Verplanck in a separate bid rigging scheme."
The US Attorney's Office said the dumping scheme took place from 2018 until February of 2020.
According to the announcement, Dyckman is accused of allowing Griffin and his employees to have unauthorized access to Arlo Lane, which is a Cortlandt facility, to dump truckloads of unauthorized materials, such as thick concrete, large rocks, and more.
The Town estminated it will cost between $600,000 and $1.5 million to remove the materials, Williams said.
Griffin gave Dyckman cash bribes, firewood, flowers, and gardening materials and made improvements to Dyckman's home in exchange for access to the facility, the US Attorney's Office reported.
Williams said Griffin also engaged in a separate bid-rigging scheme between 2015 and 2018, where he defrauded the village of Croton-on-Hudson for work on its schools and the hamlet of Verplanck for work for its fire department.
He is accused of making sham bids on behalf of entities he didn't have authorization to submit bids for so he would be the low bidder in a pool of bidders and receive money for work on the projects, Williams reported.
Based on the inflated bids, he was awarded a total of $133,000 in contracts, Williams said.
The US Attorney's Office said Griffin was charged with:
- Conspiracy to pay and receive bribes and gratuities
- Payment of bribes and gratuities
- Conspiracy to misapply and convert property of local government receiving federal funds
- Wire fraud conspiracy
- Wire fraud
- Aggravated identity theft
According to the announcement, Dyckman was charged with:
- Conspiracy to pay and receive bribes and gratuities
- Receipt of bribes and gratuities
- Conspiracy to misapply and convert property of local government receiving federal funds
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