Valley Stream man accused of taking kickbacks from workers at Queens school

A Valley Stream man is accused of forcing workers to pay him a kickback for working on a construction project at a Queens school, prosecutors said.

Komal Singh, 52, has been indicted on three counts of third-degree grand larceny and three counts of fourth-degree larceny, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a news release Thursday.

Between March 2019 and February 2020, Singh worked as a foreman at PS 71 on Forest Avenue in Ridgewood, where he had the authority to hire and fire people, prosecutors said. Using his position, Singh hired workers with the understanding that each was to pay him $50 for each day worked, prosecutors said.

Singh fired workers or told them there was no work if they complained or didn’t pay him, prosecutors said.

“The victims worked hard for their money and as alleged, the defendant demanded they kick some of it back to him or face termination,” Katz said in a statement. “This kind of exploitation is illegal.”

Prosecutors did not state how much Singh profited from workers or if they were part of a union.

Singh was arraigned Wednesday before Queens County Supreme Court Justice Stephen Knopf and released on his own recognizance, according to court records said.

Singh’s attorney, A. Adam Mehrfar of Manhattan, said Thursday that his client “denies any wrongdoing.”

“The allegations are being made by individuals that we believe have ulterior motives in making false claims against Mr. Singh," Mehrfar said in a statement.

The New York City Department of Investigations also took part in the investigation.

“Construction foreman Komal Singh used his position to exploit workers reporting to him, squeezing them for thousands of dollars in kickbacks as a condition of getting hired and continuing their work at a School Construction Authority site in Queens, as charged in the indictment,” said Jocelyn Strauber, Department of Investigations commissioner, in a statement. "Extortion and kickbacks are not the way to do business in New York City, and DOI will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who abuse their workers."

The work done at the school was part of the New York City Construction Authority, which according to its website designs and constructs public schools for children in the city.