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February 10, 2015- The people who used to look the other way and allow New York City backroom corruption to go on are now running scared after the arrest of Sheldon Silver and the expanding FBI investigations. The real estate industry is now in the cross-hairs of city law enforcers.
Today, a real estate blog reports, “Sixteen city employees, including two Department of Buildings bureau chiefs, and 34 others were charged in connection with bribery cases today, investigators said at a press conference announcing the 26 indictments filed in New York and Kings Counties.
“50 corrupt city officials and businessmen allowed building construction to go forward despite serious hazards,” said Mark G. Peters, the commissioner of the city’s Department of Investigation.
The multi-agency investigation revealed evidence of approximately $450,000 worth of alleged bribes in numerous, separate schemes between 16 employees from the DOB and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and 22 property managers and owners, six expeditors, two contractors and one engineer, the district attorney’s office said. In addition, in the course of the investigation other people were arrested. The bribes were in connection with more than 100 residential and commercial properties in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.”