NEW YORK (AP)  -- A construction official billed the government for supplies that were never delivered for the cleanup of a toxic ground zero skyscraper in exchange for cash, clothes and trips to the Caribbean, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Robert Chiarappa was charged with grand larceny in the theft of $1.2 million in fake invoices for work on the former Deutsche Bank tower across the street from the World Trade Center site.

Chiarappa, of Brooklyn, was the purchasing agent for the John Galt Corp., a contractor fired from the job and later indicted on manslaughter charges for a 2007 fire that killed two firefighters at the toxic skyscraper. The criminal investigation of the fire uncovered evidence of the theft, the Manhattan district attorney's office said.

Chiarappa told companies to submit phony bills for plastic sheeting, safety equipment, gloves and protective clothing that never were delivered to the tower, prosecutors said. He then signed off on the invoices and used his take of the payments to pay credit card bills, lease luxury automobiles and take a vacation in the Turks and Caicos islands, prosecutors said.

Chiarappa pleaded not guilty to six counts of grand larceny at his arraignment Tuesday and was held on $100,000 bail.

His attorney, David Wikstrom, called a prosecutor's request for higher bail ``excessive,'' saying Chiarappa had been aware of the case against him for months and hadn't left town. Wikstrom declined comment as he left court.

Chiarappa, 45, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

The Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the state rebuilding agency that owns the building, were billed for about half of the fake invoices, prosecutors said. Arch Insurance Group, Galt's bonding company, took over the payments when Galt was fired from the job after the Aug. 18, 2007, blaze.

The LMDC said it had ``cooperated fully'' in the investigation.

Galt and two of its officials were indicted on manslaughter charges last month in the fire, charged with removing a section of the standpipe that supplied fire hoses with water. The broken water pipe hampered firefighting efforts during the blaze, which officials said was caused by careless smoking.