The Daily News reported Saturday that it was believed that Percoco earned in the six-figure range in consulting jobs from entities with state business while he took time off the state payroll to serve as Cuomo’s re-election campaign manager.
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The Buffalo Billion centerpiece is a $750 million factory the state is building for SolarCity. He had previously worked at the state Division of Homes and Community Renewal, and also worked as director of operations for Cuomo’s 2014 reelection bid, according to his LinkedIn profile. For both companies, Percoco listed the money as being for “consulting fees”.
The governor’s office said it has hired an investigator to look into any wrongdoing including the possibility that Percoco was doing work on behalf of the governor while working in his new role in the private sector as Senior Vice President of Madison Square Garden.
On a state-mandated financial disclosure form filed with the Joint Commission on Public Ethics and made public today, Percoco listed COR along with the Cuomo campaign as one of his sources of income.
Cuomo vowed an extensive investigation of the situation, which includes not only Percoco but the governor’s hallmark upstate development effort, the Buffalo Billion – a $1 billion program to help the state’s largest upstate city.
That outside lawyer, Bart M. Schwartz, said Friday that “the state has reason to believe that in certain circumstances and regulatory approvals they have been defrauded by improper rigging and failures to disclose potential conflicts of interests by lobbyists and former state employees”.
The feds issued subpoenas to the governor’s office Friday, and, in turn, the Cuomo administration announced its own investigation and issued a press release that appeared to throw one or more close associates under the bus. “I knew he might be accepting consulting arrangements with other companies”.
Over the weekend, news broke that top aides to Governor Cuomo are being probed by the US Attorney in connection with the Buffalo Billion economic development project.
On Friday, the governor’s office received a subpoena from U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s office for any and all documents related to the investigation.
At the time, Democratic votes in the chamber were vital to Mr. Cuomo’s interests, because the Senate Republicans who control the body were wavering on the minimum-wage increase he sought.
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CHA has been a major contractor with the state for years, and has done work on a number of SUNY Polytechnic projects in upstate during the Cuomo administration. That does not include a $120,000 bonus he received in early 2015 from the campaign after returning to the state payroll.
