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Former Turner Construction executive sentenced to 46 months for failing to pay tax on bribes

A former vice president and deputy operation manager at Turner Construction Company has been sentenced to 46 months in prison for evading tax on more than $1.5m that he received in bribes.

Ronald Olson, 54, was convicted of receiving bribes on work carried out for financial services and media company Bloomberg.

The case came to light after an 18-month investigation and a raid on Bloomberg’s New York offices in 2018, after which defendants were charged with failing to pay taxes exceeding $5.1m between 2010 and 2017.

On 24 July 2020, Michael Campana, 34, a construction manager at Bloomberg, was sentenced to two years in prison for evading taxes on $420,000 of bribes.

Campana was convicted of benefiting from receipts related to his 2017 wedding, where subcontractors paid $40,000 to a catering hall in New Jersey, $13,000 to a photography studio and $23,000 for a honeymoon.

Anthony Guzzone, 51, Bloomberg’s former global head of construction, was sentenced on 27 January to 38 months in prison for soliciting bribes and pocketing $1.5m for subcontracting work on which he did not pay taxes.

Guzzone will face three years of supervised release and pay $574,005 in restitution to the Inland Revenue Service, which covers outstanding taxes and interest.

Turner executive Vito Nigro, 59, has been charged with tax evasion and will be sentenced on July 1.

Other charges in connection with the bribery scheme, including conspiracy, commercial bribery and money laundering, remain pending against Olson, Guzzone and Nigro.

Audrey Strauss, US Attorney, said: "Bribery and tax evasion impose hidden, unfair costs on law-abiding customers, employers, and taxpayers. The type of criminality uncovered in this case undermines a just society. Appropriately, Ronald Olson has been sentenced to prison for his crime."

 Image ©GCR, illustration by Denis Carrier

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