Kaloyeros masterminded much of Cuomo’s vast upstate economic development programs.
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The Governor’s economic development plan for Upstate New York is at the center of the probe, which targets former top aide Joseph Percoco and numerous others, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“There’s no allegation of wrongdoing on the part of the governor”, the prosecutor insisted when the Observer pressed him on whether it was realistic that Cuomo had been oblivious to the activities of his aides and allies. Most believed that when Percoco spoke – often admonishing those who disagreed with Cuomo – that he spoke for the governor. Percoco was known in state government as Andrew Cuomo’s “enforcer”. That lobbyist is a cooperating witness named Todd Howe, from the firm Whitman, Osterman & Hanna. “So he is inextricably tied to this, so to say that he didn’t know what was going on, well, he was either asleep at the switch or allowing it to go on, but I think that it’s indisputable at this point that the Cuomo administration is corrupt”, says Republican political strategist Jessica Proud. “If anything, a friend should be held to an even higher standard”.
In an apparent reference to Howe’s cooperation, Bohrer said the case against Percoco is “based on information provided by someone of utterly unreliable credibility”. He is accused of steering state contracts connected to projects in Syracuse and the Buffalo Billion to two companies that had sent kickbacks to a SUNY Polytechnic consultant.
Also mentioned repeatedly in the criminal complaint is Howard Glaser, who served as Cuomo’s director of state operations from 2011 to 2014, when he retired.
Using Percoco’s closeness to Cuomo as a selling point, Howe had clients funnel $315,000 to Percoco through various means, with the two men hilariously describing the money in emails as “ziti” and Percoco trying to get results for Howe’s clients, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. They said Kaloyeros, who oversaw the application process for numerous state grants, retained Howe to help him, and Howe in turn solicited and received bribes.
Cuomo did not immediately respond to the charges Thursday. None of them commented as they left court.
LPCiminelli said in a statement that company officials “acted appropriately and legally” and will be vindicated.
Charged along with Percoco are Alain Kaloyeros, Peter Kelly, Jr., Steven Aiello, Joseph Gerardi, Louis Ciminelli, Michael Laipple and Kevin Schuler.
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Kaloyeros and an Albany-area developer named in the indictment, Joseph Nicolla of Columbia Development, are alleged to have colluded in order to ensure that Nicolla’s company would win the bids to build facilities at SUNY Polytechnic. This involved payments to tailor state contracts to fit the bids of the companies seeking the awards, including applications by COR Development and LPCiminelli, prosecutors said. Both men are due in Albany city court in the coming days. Nothing related to the contracts or development of the SUNY POLY projects in Marcy are mentioned in the 80 page federal indictment. In fact, given the deep involvement of the now indicted Alain Kaloyeros in nearly all the projects, can the state do anything other than put a freeze on the projects?
