WCNYH
Warehouseman Application Denied for Fraud, Deceit and Misrepresentation on Application and During Sworn Article 4 Interview
December 21, 2022
The Waterfront Commission denied the Application for Longshoreman Registration of Scott E. Watts, 50, of East Orange, New Jersey as a warehouseman for committing fraud, deceit or misrepresentation on both his Application and during a sworn interview with the Commission, following an administrative hearing.
On December 6, 2021, Watts submitted an Application for Longshoreman Registration to the Commission. On his Application, he failed to list any of his six arrests and further denied that he had ever been arrested for, charged with, indicted for or convicted of the commission of certain enumerated crimes. He also signed a statement on his Application that the statements on his Application were true to his own knowledge and that he supplied full and complete information in answer to each question. During a sworn Commission interview, Watts testified that he had been arrested just twice.
Following a hearing before Administrative Law Judge Cataldo Fazio, the ALJ found that Watts had committed fraud, deceit or misrepresentation on both his Application and during his sworn Article 4 interview. The ALJ ruled that Watts’ testimony in which he alternated “between that he had forgotten about the various arrests and that he thought the charges had been expunged, to be less than credible.” Accordingly, the ALJ found that the Commission had proven the charges set forth in the Notice of Hearing and recommended the denial of Watts’ Application. The Commission followed the ALJ’s recommendation.
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