70 Current and Former Employees of NY Public Housing Authority Charged in Historic Corruption, Extortion Case

NYC Mayor De Blasio Announces Plan To Overhaul City's Public Housing — (Photo : Spencer Platt/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - MAY 19: A person walks by an East Harlem public housing complex on May 19, 2015 in New York City. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his 10-year approach to fixing New York City's ailing public housing authority in an appearance Tuesday at the at Johnson Houses Community Center in Harlem. The plan will call for exploring the development of underused housing sites with mixed-income development. In the plan, half of any new residential units would be for low-income families. The New York City Housing Authority has an annual budget of about $3 billion and provides housing for more than 400,000 residents. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Federal prosecutors in New York on Tuesday unsealed bribery and extortion charges against 70 current and former employees of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) for allegedly pocketing over $2 million in cash payments for no-bid repair contracts.

In a statement posted on X, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said the scheme involved nearly a third of the city's 335 public housing developments and called it "the largest single-day bribery takedown" in the Justice Department's history.

"Instead of acting in the interests of NYCHA residents, the City of New York, or taxpayers, the 70 defendants charged today allegedly used their jobs at NYCHA to line their own pockets. This action is the largest single-day bribery takedown in the history of the Justice Department. NYCHA residents deserve better," Williams wrote in the post.

"My Office is firmly committed to cleaning up the corruption that has plagued NYCHA for far too long so that its residents can be served with integrity and have the high-quality affordable homes that they deserve. The culture of corruption at NYCHA ends today," he added.

My Office is firmly committed to cleaning up the corruption that has plagued NYCHA for far too long so that its residents can be served with integrity and have the high-quality affordable homes that they deserve. The culture of corruption at NYCHA ends today." (3/3)
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) February 6, 2024

Behind the Scheme

In describing the scheme, Williams said 70 public housing authorities, including superintendents and assistant superintendents, pocketed over $2 million in bribes from contractors who wanted to do repair works in apartment buildings throughout New York City's five boroughs.

The employees would allegedly demand between 10% and 20% of the contract value or between $500 and $2,000 depending on the size of the contract, but some employees demanded higher payments.

In total, more than $13 million in contracts were wrongfully handed out. The scheme involves nearly 100 buildings in New York City or almost a third of the authority's properties.

As of Tuesday, 66 of the 70 employees involved in the scheme were arrested, per a press release from the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Their charges include solicitation and receipt of a bribe, extortion, destruction of evidence, false statements, and conspiracy offenses.

Prosecutors noted that at least five of the 70 employees charged Tuesday were previously involved in bribery and extortion schemes that date back to 2013.