Former Westlake Resident Sentenced to Nearly Five Years for Bribery Scheme

Robert J. Kassouf, president and later owner of The Kassouf Company, was sentenced Wednesday to serve 57 months in prison and pay $682,130 in restitution for his involvement in a bribery scheme.

Kassouf, 62, formerly of Westlake, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in federally funded programs for his part in a bribery scheme that paid $600,000 to William Schatz, according to The Plain Dealer.

Kassouf had owned The Kassouf Company, one of four companies handling contracts to build a large sewage tunnel to handle storm water runoff, accoridng to WKSU News.

Shatz was formerly general legal counsel to the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District and in turn, accepted payments meant to influence or reward him for his work on legal settlements, according to prosecutors.

“Today’s sentencing sends yet another clear message about my office’s commitment to stamping out public corruption,” said Steven Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, in a release. “There is no place for bribery and self-dealing in Northern Ohio.”

The U.S. Attorney's office says that the scheme involved Schatz, Kassouf and Stanley Lojek, president of Harvard Refuse, Inc.

From about 2004 to April of 2007, Schatz would invoice Harvard Refuse for phony legal services and Schatz would take their checks, prosecutors said.

Lojek in turn invoiced Kassouf and Joint Venture, of which The Kassouf Co. was a part, for nonexistant Harvard Refuse services. Kassouf and the Joint Venture, in turn, paid these invoices, knowing that the money would go to Schatz.

Schatz and Lojek also pleaded guilty for their roles in the bribery scheme, according to NewsNet5. Last year, Schatz was sentenced to 70 months in prison and Lojek was sentenced to one year in prison.

Kassouf will report to federal prison by Oct. 3, according to The Plain Dealer