Former engineer at Kentucky steel-making plant pleads guilty in kickback scheme
A former engineer at a Kentucky steel manufacturer admitted taking more than $452,000 in kickbacks to steer business to a contractor.
Jaymin G. Vinson pleaded guilty in federal court in Covington Monday to a charge of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud.
Vinson was an engineer at the Nucor Steel Gallatin LLC plant on the Ohio River at Ghent. He took part in the scheme with Tony Berenyi, who led a business called Brenyi Inc., that is based in South Carolina and provided engineering, architecture and construction services, according to court documents.
At a meeting with Vinson in 2017 at the Belterra Casino hotel, Berenyi proposed paying him a “finder’s fee” to steer business to Berenyi’s company from a planned expansion of the steel mill, according to Vinson’s plea agreement.
The kickback scheme started in June 2018 during the initial consultation on the project.
Berenyi Inc. included the cost of paying off Vinson in its proposal to provide construction management services to Nucor, without Nucor’s knowledge, according to the plea.
Based at least in part on Vinson’s effort to help Berenyi Inc., the company received a $14.9 million contract on the expansion project, the plea agreement said.
Berenyi paid Vinson a total of $425,125 by check or wire transfer, according to his plea agreement.
Berenyi “exposed the scheme” to Nucor in November 2019. The steel company fired Vinson soon after and terminated the contract with Berenyi, according to the plea.
Nucor had no knowledge of the conspiracy. The scheme deprived the company of the honest services of its employee, Vinson, who was not acting in the company’s best interest, according to the plea.
“The conspiracy caused Nucor to incur expense not legitimately part of business or the contract’s value,” the plea said.
The maximum penalty on the charge would be 20 years in prison. Vinson agreed to pay a judgment of $425,125.
He is to be sentenced in March 2023.
