New York
Video: N.Y.C. Fire Safety Chiefs Accused of Taking Bribes
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N.Y.C. Fire Safety Chiefs Accused of Taking Bribes
Two New York Fire Department officials were arrested and accused of taking tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to speed up the fire-safety approval process for building projects throughout the city.
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Today, we are announcing public corruption charges against two former senior members of the New York City Fire Department. We have indicted Anthony Saccavino and Brian Cordasco, two former chiefs of the department’s Bureau of Fire Prevention. As the indictment alleges, Saccavino and Cordasco, acting together with a co-conspirator, solicited and received at least $190,000 in bribes in exchange for giving special treatment to certain building owners and developers for at least 30 different projects around the city. The defendants allegedly abused their power to give priority access to the Bureau of Fire Prevention, or the B.F.P., the division that regulates the installation of fire safety systems in commercial and residential buildings throughout New York City. They allegedly created a V.I.P. lane for faster service that could only be accessed with bribes. That’s classic pay-to-play corruption, and it will not be tolerated by this office.
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New York
Tracking Investigations In Eric Adams’s Orbit
Several federal corruption investigations have reached people in the orbit of Mayor Eric Adams of New York, with Mr. Adams and some of the highest-ranking officials in his administration coming under scrutiny.
Officials with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, which is conducting three of the four federal criminal investigations, have declined to answer questions about the scope of the inquiries.
The full scope of the federal investigations is unclear. Neither the mayor nor others who have had their homes searched, their devices seized or information sought from them have been charged with a crime, and it is possible some of those targeted for searches are only witnesses. The city’s Department of Investigation is involved in all four inquiries.
State-level prosecutions and civil cases have also hit the Adams administration.
Here is a closer look at how people with ties to Mr. Adams, who faces re-election next year, are related to the investigations.
Federal inquiry into Adams, his campaign and ties to Turkey
This investigation, by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, appears to be focused in part on whether the Adams 2021 campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal foreign donations, and whether Mr. Adams pressured the Fire Department to approve a new high-rise Turkish consulate, despite safety concerns.
Last November, the Brooklyn home of Brianna Suggs, Mr. Adams’s chief fund-raiser at the time, was searched by federal agents. Weeks later, he said she would leave the role.
Federal agents also searched the New Jersey homes of Rana Abbasova, an aide in the mayor’s international affairs office and a former liaison to the Turkish community for Mr. Adams, and Cenk Öcal, a former Turkish Airlines executive who served on the mayor’s transition team. Ms. Abbasova is cooperating with the investigation.
F.B.I. agents stopped Mr. Adams outside an event in November and seized his electronic devices. In July, prosecutors served a new round of grand jury subpoenas to Mr. Adams, his office and his campaign for a range of materials.
Federal inquiry into ex-police commissioner’s twin brother
At the request of City Hall, Edward A. Caban resigned as police commissioner this week, just days after federal agents seized his phone. Raul Pintos, who served as chief of staff under Mr. Caban, and the commanders of two Queens precincts also had their phones seized.
This investigation, by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, appears to be focused on a nightclub-security business owned by Mr. Caban’s twin brother, James Caban. A former New York City police officer who was fired in 2001, James Caban also had his phone seized.
Lawyers for Edward Caban have said prosecutors told them he was not a target of the investigation.
Federal inquiry into senior City Hall aides and associates
This investigation, by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, appears to center on a possible bribery scheme involving a government-relations consulting company run by Terence Banks, a brother of Philip Banks III, the deputy mayor for public safety, and of David C. Banks, the schools chancellor.
Terence Banks also helped raise funds for Mr. Adams’s 2021 campaign and was on his transition committee.
The investigation, which appears to be in the early stages, appears to be focused at least partly on city contracts issued under programs geared toward small companies owned by women and members of minority groups.
This month, federal agents seized the phones of several top City Hall aides: the first deputy mayor, Sheena Wright; David Banks, her partner; and Philip Banks. Investigators also sought information from Timothy Pearson, a senior adviser to Mr. Adams who is one of the mayor’s closest confidants.
A lawyer for Terence Banks said he and his client had been “assured by the government” that Mr. Banks was not the target of the investigation. A lawyer for Philip Banks said his client had done nothing wrong. David Banks said he was cooperating with a federal inquiry, and told reporters his lawyer had been informed that Mr. Banks was “absolutely not a target in whatever this investigation is about.”
Other investigations and legal matters
The fourth federal investigation, run by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, led to a search in February of homes owned by Winnie Greco, a close aide to Mr. Adams who was then his director of Asian affairs and a prominent campaign fund-raiser.
City officials said at the time that Ms. Greco would be placed on unpaid leave during the inquiry, but the website The City reported in May she had returned to a government job. The prosecutors’ office declined to answer questions.
Last year, Eric Ulrich, a one-time Department of Buildings commissioner appointed to the post by Mr. Adams, was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on 16 felonies, including conspiracy and taking bribes. He had previously resigned after news of the investigation became public. According to court records, Mr. Ulrich has pleaded not guilty.
In February, a retired police inspector, Dwayne Montgomery, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor state charges in Manhattan, admitting that he had directed so-called straw donors — people who make campaign donations with someone else’s money — to contribute to the mayor’s 2021 campaign.
Mr. Pearson also faces several lawsuits involving sexual harassment accusations. A lawyer representing him denied wrongdoing on his behalf. In recent days, two security guards, whom Mr. Pearson was seen physically attacking at a Midtown migrant shelter last fall, said that they planned to sue him and the city for false arrest and malicious prosecution. A lawyer representing him had not responded for comment.
Earlier this year, a woman sued Mr. Adams, accusing him of asking for oral sex in exchange for career help in 1993 and sexually assaulting her when she refused. Mr. Adams has denied assaulting the woman.
New York
Timberlake Pleads Guilty to Driving While Impaired in Hamptons Case
The singer Justin Timberlake pleaded guilty on Friday to driving while impaired, resolving a case that began with his June arrest on drunken-driving charges in the Hamptons.
As part of his plea, Mr. Timberlake agreed to pay a $500 fine and serve 25 hours of community service for a charity of his choosing. He also agreed to a 90-day suspension of his driver’s license in New York.
The singer, who was originally charged with the more serious crime of driving while intoxicated, entered the plea during an appearance at a 30-seat courthouse in the village of Sag Harbor. He wore a black cardigan and khaki slacks, with a double strand of pearls peeking out from beneath a dark T-shirt.
During the hearing, Mr. Timberlake looked on with his hands folded in front of him. His original plea agreement stipulated that he would make a public safety announcement discouraging drinking and driving. Justice Carl Irace, the village court judge overseeing the case, said on Friday that it would be more meaningful for the singer to commit himself to “a period of reflection and contemplation” through community service.
Mr. Timberlake agreed, and acknowledged that he had erred in driving rather than calling a taxi or getting a ride from a friend.
“It was a clear misjudgment,” he said.
Justice Irace, satisfied with Mr. Timberlake’s contrition, commended him for his sincerity. The judge also asked about drug and alcohol counseling for the singer, calling its absence from the plea deal “concerning,” but did not impose it.
Speaking in front of a throng of reporters and cameras outside Sag Harbor Police Headquarters after the hearing, Mr. Timberlake urged people following the case to learn from his mistake.
“Many of you have probably been covering me for a lot of my life, and as you may know, I try to hold myself to a very high standard, for myself, and this was not that,” he said.
The arrest occurred in the early hours of June 18, when a Sag Harbor police officer pulled over a new-model BMW that was driving erratically.
Mr. Timberlake, glassy-eyed and smelling of alcohol, was at the wheel, according to an arrest report. After stepping out of the car, he struggled to complete several sobriety tests, the report said. He was placed in custody and held overnight.
The singer told the police that he was on his way home after having had “one martini.” His lawyer, Edward Burke Jr., insisted to reporters that his client was not drunk when he was arrested. (Mr. Burke’s statements about the charges outside court prompted Justice Irace to scold him at an August hearing.)
The guilty plea concludes a summer of embarrassment for Mr. Timberlake. His arrest inspired a flood of mocking memes and tabloid attention. And even the court dates he did not attend in person drew crowds of reporters and film crews to Sag Harbor’s downtown, where the municipal building is surrounded by clothing boutiques, upscale galleries and the American Hotel. Mr. Timberlake had been seen there imbibing on the night of his arrest.
The legal woes have not interrupted his Forget Tomorrow world tour. He has continued playing stadium concerts, and even cracked a joke about the charges at a show in Boston in June. Justice Irace, acknowledging the demands of Mr. Timberlake’s tour schedule, made the unusual decision to allow the singer to attend the August hearing via video conference from an undisclosed location in Europe.
Mr. Timberlake is scheduled to perform at the Prudential Center in Newark at the end of September as part of a charity show that will benefit a suicide-prevention nonprofit.
Although social media users had a laugh or two at Mr. Timberlake’s expense, some prominent people with ties to the Hamptons sympathized with his public relations headache. In a recent New Yorker profile, the celebrity chef Ina Garten said she felt bad for “poor Justin Timberlake.”
Asked about Mr. Timberlake’s arrest in June, Billy Joel, a Sag Harbor resident who crashed his car three times on Long Island in the early 2000s, advised a local news reporter to “judge not, lest ye be judged.”
On Friday, Sag Harbor’s lesser-known residents were unsympathetic.
Interviewed on Main Street, Helen Hernandez, an accountant with homes in Sag Harbor and Westchester County, said she thought prosecutors should not have agreed to let Mr. Timberlake plead guilty to a less severe charge. Ms. Hernandez said a member of her family had spent $10,000 in legal fees to fight a similar charge in Westchester.
“I’m not a big fan of his,” she said.
Lawrence Rich, a real estate broker who splits his time between Sag Harbor and New York City, said he thought Mr. Timberlake’s celebrity status might have helped his case.
“Rich and famous people get away with things,” he said. “Somebody who’s not rich and famous would be in jail.”
New York
Video: New York Official Is Charged as Chinese Agent
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New York Official Is Charged as Chinese Agent
Linda Sun, a former aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul, was charged with 10 criminal counts that included visa fraud, money laundering and other crimes.
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“Linda, what do you have to say to the allegations?” “We have a lot of confidence in our case. A lot of the allegations in this indictment are, frankly, perplexing, overly inflammatory.”
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