By SOPHIE DWECK & DEAN BROWN
Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged two former close aides to the governor as well as seven other people with federal corruption and fraud offenses, dealing what political observes regard as a major blow to the Cuomo administration and its management of projects designed to stimulate lagging upstate economies with the infusion of billions of dollars in state funds.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced the wide-ranging indictments in a press conference, naming Joseph Percoco, the former Executive Deputy to the Governor, and Todd Howe, a Albany lobbyist close to Cuomo, as involved in two separate bribery schemes connected to the governor’s developmental plans. One of the plans was the controversial “Buffalo Billion ” initiative that was aimed to reinvigorate that desolated lakeside city
“Today’s charges shine a light on yet another sordid side of the show-me-the money culture that has so plagued Albany,” Bharara, an avowed foe of corruption in state government since taking office in 2015, said to the press. “The bids allegedly were rigged, the results preordained; companies got rich and the public got bamboozled. As alleged in the complaint, it turns out the state legislature does not have a monopoly on crass corruption in New York.”
Percoco was not only a trusted aide to Cuomo but also a close friend who was also esteemed by the governor’s late father, ex-governor Mario Cuomo.
In announcing the indictments Bharara stressed that “there are no allegations of any wrongdoing or misconduct by the governor anywhere in this complaint.”
The first scheme allegedly involved Percoco, who was accused of abusing his official position under Cuomo by soliciting and accepting more than $315,000 in bribes from two companies, in return for ensuring that these companies would win the state-funded contracts.
The companies, Competitive Power Ventures, an energy company, and COR, a developer in Syracuse, were the clients of Howe, who organized the bribes for Percoco.
A twist in schemes showed that Percoco and Howe referred to the bribes as “ziti,” a reference from the Emmy Award winning HBO drama, The Sopranos.
Peter Galbraith Kelly Jr, executive of Competitive Power Ventures, allegedly provided personal benefits to Percoco like expensive meals and a Hamptons fishing trip in exchange for a contract, according to the complaint. Additionally, Percoco, who was experiencing financial difficulties, was accused of getting a job for his wife at the energy company.
Along with Kelly, executives of COR, Steven Aiello and Joseph Gerardi, were also charged with orchestrating the payment of bribes to Percoco.
Furthermore, Aiello and Gerardi were voluntarily interviewed by law enforcement agents last June where the denied hiring or bribing Percoco and being asked by Howe to make any campaign contributions to Cuomo’s administration.
In the second scheme, the executives at COR conspired with the President of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Alain Kaloyeros, also indicted, and Howe to deceive Fort Schuyler, a State-funded entity charged with awarding state contracts, by fraudulently rigging the bids so that the Syracuse developer and a Buffalo developer, LPCiminelli, would be awarded the contracts to carry on with the Buffalo Billion plans. Louis Ciminelli, Michael Laipple, and Kevin Schuler, the executives of Buffalo-based development, paid the hundreds of dollars in bribes, said the indictment.
All nine defendants were arrested Thursday, according to a U.S. Attorney press release. Howe, who had also worked for Mario Cuomo when he was governor, pleaded guilty to the charges on Tuesday and is cooperating with the investigation.
Cuomo released a statement condemning the actions of his former aides and the seven other defendants.
“If the allegations are true, I am saddened and profoundly disappointed,” Cuomo said. “This matter is now in the hands of the court, which is exactly where it belongs. My administration will continue to be fully cooperative in the matter as we have been since it began.”
Photo of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara
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