Joseph Percoco, Cuomo’s former executive deputy secretary and one of his most loyal advisers, and Todd Howe, a longtime family confidante, were among the nine people named in the complaint which was filed in USA federal court in Manhattan, according to the New York Post.
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The complaint unsealed today describes an alleged bribery scheme in which Percoco, the former executive deputy secretary to Cuomo, solicited more than $300,000 from two companies in return for helping them with state business. During that time, Howe worked as a consultant to SUNY Polytechnic while its affiliated nonprofits awarded contracts and funding to companies that paid tens of thousands of dollars in income to Percoco, according to his financial disclosure statements. Joseph Percoco is one of eight people accused of bribery and corruption in a sweeping 79-page complaint unsealed today in federal court in the Southern District of NY.
The money came when Percoco was off the state payroll as head of Cuomo’s re-election campaign. “I expect it to move forward based upon the strength of its economic development potential and its many public and private partners”. Kaloyeros and Howe secretly asked the developers for qualifications that would be inserted in the Requests for Proposals to minimize competition, authorities said. But if the charges are proved true – Howe already has pleaded guilty to extortion, bribery and wire fraud – the governor will have to answer hard questions about his judgment and oversight.
Also charged were COR Development executives Steven Aiello and Joseph Girardi and LPCiminelli executives Michael Laipple, Kevin Schuler and CEO Louis Ciminelli.
Toscano-Percoco and Glaser declined to comment, and the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office wouldn’t discuss potential charges against them.
Cuomo issued a statement shortly after the complaint was made public, saying in part that he is “saddened and profoundly disappointed” that he has “zero tolerance for abuse of the public trust” and noting “if anything, a friend should be held to an even higher standard”. “I hold my administration to the highest level of integrity”.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara formally accused two individuals close to Governor Andrew Cuomo of corruption, Politico reported Thursday.
In an overlapping scheme, they said, Kaloyeros, who oversaw a grant application process for Buffalo Billion and similar programs, and Howe, whom he hired to help develop projects, conspired to rig bids for contracts favoring two developers.
Percoco’s attorney, Barry Bohrer, called the case “an overreach of classic proportions”.
And New York is among 35 states suing the maker of a medication used to wean addicts off heroin and prescription painkillers.
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“This prosecution, based on information provided by someone of utterly unreliable credibility, seeks to criminalize conduct that the Supreme Court of the United States recently found to be not unlawful”, he said in an apparent reference to the case of former Virginia Bob McDonnell. Under the law, probationary and junior drivers could face a 120 day suspension for a first offense, and can lose their license for one year if a second offense is committed within six months.
