Sopranos - 'no show' job

[rja211077]

What is a 'no show' job as seen on Tuesday's episode of the Sopranos. How does the mob make money from this? And can anybody explain the exact mechanism by which they are making money out of that development in general?

[mawallen]

tony's crew use their "influence" on the construction firm building the esplanade to get a contract to provide (eg) 20 labourers at the site at $200 a day. These are surplus to requirements so they get 6 guys to sit around on site to give the impression they are fulfilling their contract - the other 14 are "no shows" ie people not required to show up - tony gets paid at $4,000 a day for labourers and gives his 6 guys a share of that money for sitting around and keeps the rest.