NEW YORK -- The New Jersey construction company with troubling links to former NYPD head Bernard Kerik is under criminal investigation for its alleged mob ties, NewsChannel 4's Jonathan Dienst reported.
Sources said that Interstate Industrial -- and its owners Frank and Peter DiTomasso -- are under federal investigation in connection with their alleged ties to the Gambino crime family.
Interstate is the construction firm that has been at the center of the furor since Kerik's sudden withdrawal as Homeland Security nominee.
Recent testimony at the trial of reputed Gambino boss Peter Gotti suggested Interstate paid the mob protection money. Sources said at least three different mob turncoats have told investigators that Interstate funneled cash to John Gotti Jr.
The firm has had a troubled past with government regulators. Just this past January, New York City banned the company from sanitation contracts. The Business Integrity Commission said the company's ties to organized crime were so extensive that there could be no innocent explanation.
In November 2003, an appeals court upheld New York State's refusal to let the firm seek millions in work on court construction in the Bronx.
In New Jersey, the firm did prevail in getting a permit to work on casino construction projects in Atlantic City. This happened over the strenuous objections of the FBI and state organized crime investigators who allege the company paid protection money to the mafia, and gave a no-show job to a mobster.
In 1998, Kerik recommended his close friend Larry Ray for a $100,000 job with Interstate. Frank DiTomasso -- in sworn testimony -- said "Kerik trusted Ray like his brother." Ray would later plead guilty in an unrelated stock fraud conspiracy scheme.
The company also hired Kerik's brother. Interstate on Monday did not return calls for comment, but in the past, the company has denied ties to the mob. Sources said Kerik is in no way a target in the interstate mafia investigation.
However, there are new questions about the former police commissioner and e-mails that Ray claimed he exchanged with Kerik. In the e-mails, obtained by NewsChannel 4's Jonathan Dienst, Kerik allegedly writes to Ray about the city's oversight of the carting industry.
Kerik's lawyer and spokesman did not return calls on Monday.
Meanwhile, in Washington, President George W. Bush said Kerik was correct to drop out as Homeland Security nominee.
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Mob Ties Probed
