Two former close aides to Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York have been hit with federal corruption charges involving alleged bribery, corruption and fraud, The New York Times reports.
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In a separate but overlapping alleged scheme, SUNY Polytechnic Institute President Alain Kaloyeros was accused of steering work to contractors while overseeing the application process for the Buffalo Billion project, meant to revitalize the western NY city, prosecutors said.
Bharara has scheduled a news conference to talk about the charges that include the President of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Alain Kaloyeros, for what Bharara says is “their roles in two bribery and fraud schemes in connection with the award of hundreds of millions of dollars in New York State contracts and other official state actions”.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara indicated via Twitter that charges nine people would be announced at noon. “Through rigged bids, state contracts worth billions of dollars in public development monies, meant to revitalize and renew upstate NY, were instead just another way to corruptly award cronies who were willing to pay to play”.
“Today’s complaint shines a light on yet another sordid side of the show-me-the-money culture that has so plagued the government”, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara told reporters. Bharara announced that Howe pleaded guilty to an eight-count indictment and is now a cooperating witness in the case. Cuomo has made a point of cutting ties with both Howe and Percoco, and also ordered an independent review of the Buffalo Billion program after investigators allegedly subpoenaed his office this April. ALBANY CORRUPTION The cases were the latest to focus on Albany, New York’s capital, following last year’s convictions of the leaders of the state legislature’s two houses, Democrat Sheldon Silver and Republican Dean Skelos. Prosecutors say the favor also helped the company score millions of dollars in energy credits for a power plant it was building in New Jersey. EXECUTIVES CHARGED Barry Bohrer, Percoco’s lawyer, called the prosecution “an overreach of classic proportions”.
Some of the most serious allegations in a Manhattan federal court criminal complaint were brought against Joseph Percoco, formerly Cuomo’s executive deputy secretary and one of his most loyal advisers.
“Every investigation surrounding public officials, now one including Joseph Percoco and Alain Kaloyeros, has highlighted a desperate need for reform”.
Despite the intimate links between Cuomo and almost every individual accused today, Bharara refused to comment on whether the governor was complicit or complacent in any of these alleged illegal dealings-or even on whether his investigators had interviewed Cuomo at any point during the probe.
“Effective immediately and until this matter is resolved, Dr. Kaloyeros has been suspended without pay”.
Prosecutors unsealed a 79-page indictment on Thursday that names Joseph Percoco and Todd Howe, Cuomo’s former advisers, as defendants. He later served as campaign manager for Cuomo’s reelection.
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In exchange, Percoco allegedly helped with a variety of so-called “official acts” – like getting the state to drop a costly union-friendly requirement on one of the developer’s projects, and helping the energy company get low-priced emissions credits. Luring the nation’s largest installer of rooftop solar panels to western NY was a key facet of the governor’s plan to reverse the region’s economic decline.
