HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania prosecutors said today that 10 people connected to Pennsylvania’s highway department faced charges related to an alleged scheme to overbill and generate kickbacks through a system that thrived on cronyism.

Two ex-managers with PennDOT in the Philadelphia area, Alexander Morrone, 50, and William Rosetti, 36, were accused of taking cash to approve inflated timesheets and mileage reports.

Morrone is alleged to have made inspectors perform home improvements for himself and his mother on the taxpayers’ time, while Rosetti is accused of getting paid for time he was not working.

“The grand jury heard testimony from multiple sources that Morrone directed inspectors to provide monetary Christmas gifts to Rosetti `out of respect’ for everything that Rosetti was doing from them,” an appeal that generated $800, the grand jury claimed.

The grand jury said inspectors were paid more than $500,000 they did not earn and two consulting firms were paid more than $700,000 for unearned overtime.

Two PennDOT inspectors, Frank DiMichele, 49, and Generoso Palmieri, 60, and six contractor inspectors were also charged for what state prosecutors alleged were criminal acts related to permitting and inspection programs for construction on highways. They were both suspended today by PennDOT without pay.

All 10 were charged with various counts of corrupt organizations, theft, tampering with records and criminal conspiracy, and some also faced charges of bribery and receiving stolen property.