Politics & Government

Details on Fraudulent Police Uniform Bid Released by City Hall

The city manager's office details what happened with the bidding that led the county DA to charge an auxiliary police officer with felony fraud.

The Rye City Manager’s office issued a press release detailing the decisions and events that led the Westchester County District Attorney's felony fraud charges against an auxiliary police officer.

In summary, the press release explains that the city received two bids for a contract to supply police uniforms from New England Sportswear, which is owned by the (now suspended) auxiliary police officer, John Holmes, and Connecticut-based New England Uniform, LLC. Both initially claimed the other did not have needed warranties from different manufacturers of the clothing they promised to supply in their bid documents.

The city rejected their bids and asked them to return with proof of warranty. They returned with required warranties and on March 20, the city awarded the bid to New England Sportswear because it was the lower bidder.

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New England Uniform then claimed Sportswear had forged a warranty. The company whose warranty was allegedly forged confirmed that they had not supplied Sportswear with their warranty. The Rye city police investigated, found this to be true and Sportswear owner John Holmes turned himself into police headquarters on April 9.

The District Attorney charged Holmes with two felony violations:

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  •  Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a Class D felony; 
  • and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a Class E felony. Holmes has also been suspended from duty as a member of the Auxiliary Police Unit.

The City has confirmed that New England Uniform has a valid warranty from both Blauer and Conqueror. The bid award letter to New England Sportswear was never sent out.

The Council will be rescinding its award to New England Sportswear at its April 17 council meeting and will be considering a bid award to New England Uniform. The bid from New England Uniform is still valid per the city's bid specifications.

Read the full press release below. For more on this story, click here. 

Rye City Press Release: 

Police Uniform Bid #3-13

On March 20, 2013, the City Council awarded Police Uniform Bid #3-13 to New England Sportswear. Previously, the City Council rejected the bids for police uniforms twice (Bid#2-2012 and Bid #1-2013).

Upon completion of the first bid, New England Sportswear pointed out that one of the two authorized manufacturers of shirts and pants had been purchased by another company and changed its name from “Perfection” to “Conqueror.” In the interest of being as accurate as possible, the City Council rejected the submissions and the contract was re-bid.

Upon completion of the second bid, both bidders alleged that the other company was not an authorized dealer of one of the manufacturers. New England Uniform claimed that New England Sportswear was not an authorized dealer for Blauer (one manufacturer). New England Sportswear alleged that New England Uniform was not an authorized Conqueror (the second manufacturer) dealer. As a result, both bidders were informed that they needed to submit letters indicating that both manufacturers (Blauer and Conqueror) would warranty their products as per the bid specifications.            The City Council rejected the bids and the contract was bid for a third time.

On March 4, 2013, the two bids received were opened and both bids included warranty letters from both manufacturers. On March 20, 2013, the Council awarded the bid to New England Sportswear as they were the lowest bidder. The Council was made aware at the time of the bid award that an auxiliary police officer, Mr. James Homes, had a financial interest in New England Sportswear. As an auxiliary officer, Mr. Holmes is an unpaid volunteer who has assisted with traffic and crowd control at large events. As Mr. Holmes does not receive any compensation from the City, and has no involvement or oversight in the procurement of contracts for the Police Department, there is no violation of the Rye City Code or New York State Law regarding prohibited conflicts of interest.

On March 25, 2013, the City was notified via email from Steven Blauer, Vice President of Blauer Manufacturing, that his company never provided a letter stating that it would warranty garments purchased from Blauer to New England Sportswear. Immediately upon being notified, Police Commissioner Connors spoke to Mr. Blauer to confirm his statement in the letter that the warranty submitted by New England Sportswear was fraudulent, and advised him that his allegation would be investigated.On Tuesday, March 26, 2013, Commissioner Connors met with the Acting Commanding Officer of the Detective Division to commence an investigation of this matter. On the same day, the City received a letter from New England Uniform stating that they objected to the bid award to New England Sportswear.

On Wednesday, March 27, 2013, Commissioner Connors and members of the Detective Division conferred with the District Attorney’s office regarding the allegations. On Monday April 1, 2013, a follow up meeting was held with the Public Integrity Bureau of the District Attorney’s office.

The District Attorney’s office prepared a Felony Complaint charging John Holmes, the proprietor of New England Sportswear, with violations of § 170.25 of the New York State Penal Law, Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a Class D felony, and § 175.35 of the New York State Penal Law, Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a Class E felony. Mr. Holmes surrendered himself on April 9, 2013 for processing at the Rye Police Headquarters. At this time, Mr. Holmes has also been suspended from duty as a member of the Auxiliary Police Unit.

The City has confirmed that New England Uniform has a valid warranty from both Blauer and Conqueror. The bid award letter to New England Sportswear was never sent out. The Council will be rescinding its award to New England Sportswear on April 17, 2013 and will be considering a bid award to New England Uniform. The bid from New England Uniform is still valid per our bid specifications.


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