On Tuesday, federal prosecutors charged 70 current and former employees of the New York City Housing Authority, the largest public housing agency in North America, with taking bribes in exchange for awarding no-bid contracts. Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, described it as “the largest single-day bribery takedown” in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to Williams’ office, 66 of the current and former NYCHA employees were arrested on Tuesday morning. Each individual is charged with extortion as a government worker, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, along with soliciting and receiving bribes. Additionally, some of the accused are facing additional conspiracy charges.
NYCHA Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt stated in a press release that the agency, established nearly 90 years ago to provide affordable housing for New Yorkers, maintains “ZERO tolerance for wrongful and illegal activity.”
“The individuals allegedly involved in these acts put their greed first and violated the trust of our residents, their fellow NYCHA colleagues, and all New Yorkers,” her statement said. “We will not allow bad actors to disrupt or undermine our achievements.”
According to the criminal complaint, the defendants, including supervisors, allegedly demanded cash from contractors, especially for small repair jobs, as a condition for authorizing a contract or approving a completed job.
Typically, they sought between 10% and 20% of the contract value, resulting in payments ranging from $500 to $2,000 per deal. The accused collectively accepted over $2 million in bribes, facilitating the awarding of no-bid contracts totaling $13 million across approximately 100 NYCHA buildings.
The arrested defendants were scheduled to make an initial appearance in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Tuesday.
According to Williams’ office, more than half a million of New York City’s 8.8 million residents live in NYCHA housing or receive rental subsidies for apartments in the private market. The authority receives $1.5 billion in annual funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. “NYCHA residents deserve better,” Williams said in a statement.