Welding Firm’s Owner Guilty of Wage Fraud

Alan Jay Bianco, owner of Bianco Welding in Oceanside, was found guilty last week by a federal judge of 13 counts of filing false payroll reports and taking kickbacks from public-works employees.

Bianco, who was indicted in February on 15 counts, will be sentenced Dec. 19 by U.S. District Judge Judith Keep. He faces a maximum prison term of 65 years.

The case, which was tried before Keep, lasted three days.

Bianco was the only businessman to go to trial out of nine who were charged with violating the federal Davis-Bacon Act, passed by Congress in 1931 to guarantee that workers on federally contracted projects are paid the prevailing wage in that particular area.

The other firms and owners pleaded guilty before their trials.

Bianco Welding’s contract was with the U.S. Marine Corps to make sure that its ammunition storage areas were secure during the 1984 Olympics, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Eve Bermingham. Bianco’s firm did welding for the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton.

Five of Bianco’s former workers testified that they were paid the prevailing wage rate.