Cop in Bucks County charged with bid-rigging scheme to get used public vehicles for cheap

An Upper Southampton Township police officer and a former public works official were charged with rigging auction bids on used police vehicles for their personal benefit, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.

Derek J. Gale, 47, and Brandon F. Valentino, 27, are accused of scheming to falsely undervalue two Ford Explorers so that they could personally win them with cheap bids.

Both men were arraigned on Tuesday and released on unsecured bail. Gale is on paid administrative leave from the police department, the district attorney’s office said. Valentino was terminated from his position as assistant public works director.

Gale and Valentino were charged with bid rigging, theft by deception, criminal conspiracy to commit theft by deception, theft by unlawful taking, and related offenses.

Louis R. Busico, the attorney representing Gale, said in an email: “Derek has served the Bucks County community for many many years. He has kept his fellow citizens safe in his capacity as a police officer. Anyone who knows him describes him as a wonderful human being. He has committed no crime.”

Blake M. Jackman, who represents Valentino, could not be reached for comment.

According to the grand jury presentment in the case, the investigation was launched in February after Bucks County authorities received a complaint that Valentino had undervalued a township police vehicle for an auction so that he could buy it himself.

Bucks County Detective Dante Montella testified to the grand jury that Valentino told him in an interview that Gale gave him the idea of providing false information to an auction site to make the vehicles appear to be in much worse condition.

Valentino, who is 20 years younger than Gale, told the detective that he worked closely with Gale, who oversaw fleet maintenance for the police department, and looked up to the police officer as a father figure and mentor, Montella testified.

Valentino, who handled vehicle auctions for the township, said he understood what they were doing was wrong, but he believed it was legal because a police officer was telling him he could do it, Montella testified.

In the first auction, Valentino listed a green 2014 Ford Explorer that had been used by the police chief but had been decommissioned. The listing claimed that the vehicle needed a new engine, had a water pump leak, and would need to be towed. Upgraded aluminum rims on the Explorer were removed for the auction listing.

Valentino won the vehicle with a $1,005 bid. The Explorer was in good working order with its original engine, had no water pump leak, and was drivable, investigators said. The upgraded aluminum rims were reinstalled.

Valentino later sold the Explorer for $7,500, the grand jury presentment said.

The second vehicle, a gray 2013 Ford Explorer, also was undervalued for an auction with false descriptions about its poor condition, the presentment said.

Gale won the vehicle with a $2,105 bid and used it as a personal vehicle until it was seized as part of the investigation, the presentment said.

Gale appeared before the grand jury and, according to the presentment, responded to every question with: “I respectfully refuse to answer the question as I believe the answer may tend to incriminate me.”