2004 Media Releases:

CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
VINCENT P. SARUBBI, CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR
MEDIA   INFORMATION

April 21, 2004

Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi announced that a Grand Jury today indicted Nicholas Ferrino, a.k.a., Nicholas Krakana, M/27, on five counts of Theft by Deception and single counts of Forgery, Issuing a False Financial Statement and Theft by Failure to Make Required Disposition of Property Received.

The indictment accuses Ferrino, formerly of Gibbsboro and now living in Phoenix, Ariz., of supplying false and misleading information, including a falsified financial statement, to Gulf Insurance Co. of Farmington, Conn., and Fidelity & Guaranty/St. Paul Insurance Co. of Baltimore, in order to obtain approximately $1.9 million in performance bonds for his company, Zinn Construction Co. of Gibbsboro. The alleged offenses occurred between October of 1999 and February of 2000 and involved Zinn contracts with the Federal Aviation Administration, the School District of Philadelphia, Montgomery County Community College and Delaware County Community College.

The indictment also accuses Ferrino of forging a settlement sheet in November 1999 to falsely show himself as the owner of a home in the first block of Simsbury Drive in Voorhees. In addition, Ferrino is accused of keeping $231,075 from the Philadelphia School District instead of forwarding it to the Connecticut Escrow Co. of Farmington, Conn., which would then have made payments to various Zinn subcontractors.

Each of the Theft counts is a second-degree charge carrying a maximum 10-year term in New Jersey State Prison upon conviction. Issuing a False Financial Statement is a third-degree charge carrying up to five years and Forgery is a fourth-degree charge carrying up to 18 months in prison.

Ferrino remains free pending an initial Superior Court hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. The case is being handled by the Insurance Fraud section of the Special Prosecutions Unit within the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. The Inspector General's Office within the U.S. Department of Transportation, which includes the Federal Aviation Administration, assisted in the investigation.

All persons charged with criminal offenses are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.