NEW YORK (AP) — In announcing 70 arrests, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday that the largest public housing authority in the nation was infested by a “classic pay-to-play” culture of corruption that dispensed repair jobs valued at under $10,000 to contractors willing to pay bribes. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams told a news conference that the corruption was so widespread that it affected nearly a third of the 335 housing developments citywide where one in 17 New Yorkers lived. Bribery and extortion charges led to a roundup of current and former employees of the New York City Housing Authority that represented the largest single-day bribery takedown in the history of the U.S. Justice Department, Williams said. The city’s public housing authority receives over $1.5 billion in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development each year. Some defendants, authorities said, demanded even greater amounts of money in return for using their discretion to favor one contractor over another.

Source: Daily Nation February 07, 2024 11:12 UTC