50 Building Inspectors and Contractors to Be Charged in Bribery Scheme
It’s not going to be a good day for up to 50 city building inspectors and contractors, as well as two mob associates, who are expected to be charged today in “one of the biggest corruption crackdowns in years.” After a year-long investigation into projects that have been fast-tracked and received certificates of occupancies in return for cash, the Department of Investigation (DOI) and the Manhattan district attorney plan to charge 12 crooked city inspectors and nearly 40 contractors, according to the Daily News. Early this morning, the charged parties surrendered to authorities
In 2014, there was a 14 percent increase in construction job filings and a 35 percent increase in new building permits. But complaints to the Department of Buildings (DOB) were also up, from 58,900 in 2013 to more than 70,000 in 2014. To deal with the rise in complaints, the DOB conducted an additional 10,000 inspections, resulting in more than 47,000 building code violations, a 10 percent increase.
The charges will be announced today by DOI Commissioner Mark Peters and Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr., and they will detail a bribery scheme that’s been going on across the city for years.
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