Former FDNY chiefs arrested for bribery
/
Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney Damian Williams points to a graphic detailing a New York City Fire Department bribery scheme at a press conference at Federal Plaza in New York, Monday Sept. 16, 2024. AP photo by Stefan Jeremiah
By Jacob Kaye
Two former FDNY chiefs were cuffed by federal authorities on Monday after prosecutors said they took bribes to expedite fire inspections on behalf of developers, including one behind a number of hotels in Queens.
Anthony Saccavino and Brian Cordasco, both who served as chiefs in the New York City Fire Department’s Bureau of Fire Prevention, were arrested and charged with bribery, corruption and false statements offenses after federal prosecutors said the duo lied to law enforcement about the scheme during interviews earlier this year.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams described Saccavino and Cordasco’s scheme as “classic pay-to-play corruption.”
In all, Saccavino and Cordasco allegedly brought in at least $190,000 in bribes for giving special treatment to building owners and developers behind at least 30 different projects around the five boroughs who were hoping to expedite the city’s inspection process.
“These defendants used their power as senior members of the FDNY to let some people cut the line,” Williams said at a press conference on Monday. “New Yorkers deserve better.”
The arrests of Saccavino and Cordasco do not appear to be connected to one of several investigations Williams’ office is reportedly conducting into Mayor Eric Adams’ campaign and administration.
Their arrests come around a week after several senior members of Adams’ administration had their homes raided and phones seized by federal agents and after two top officials, including former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, announced their resignation.
According to prosecutors, Saccavino and Cordasco worked with retired firefighter Henry Santiago Jr., the owner of an “expediting business,” to get clients.
Clients would come to Santiago looking for a shortcut to completing the required city inspections and Santiago would then refer the projects to Saccavino and Cordasco, who together ran the unit that regulates the installation of fire safety systems in commercial and residential buildings throughout New York City. The clients allegedly did not know that Santiago was working with and allegedly paying Saccavino and Cordasco to expedite the projects.
Because of a large backlog of inspections that had grown during the pandemic, prosecutors say clients were willing to pay thousands of dollars to Santiago for the possibility that their project could jump to the front of the line rather than be delayed for months or years by an overburdened FDNY.
Through the scheme, which began in 2021, the trio expedited well over two dozen inspections, including for two hotels being built by a developer near John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens.
Prosecutors say that in October 2022, a representative with the hotel developer submitted a fire alarm plan for one of the hotels with the BFP.
The plan was allegedly approved six days later, though at the time, the general waiting period for a fire alarm plan review was around eight to 10 weeks.
Over the six-day period, prosecutors alleged that Santiago, Saccavino and Cordasco communicated with each other and BFP employees to ensure that an inspection date for the hotel developer was created as soon as possible.
Later that month, Saccavino and Cordasco allegedly worked with Santiago to expedite a fire alarm plan review for the same developer building a second hotel near JFK.
Saccavino and Cordasco also expedited inspections for the developer of a high-end restaurant in Manhattan and for the owner of an apartment building in Brooklyn.
The duo took in around 30 percent of the earnings brought in by Santiago’s company, according to prosecutors.
Their ill-gotten proceeds came as Saccavino was earning a $263,478 salary and Cordasco was earning $257,296 annually.
The pair first came under investigation when an FDNY official reported a complaint about Cordasco and Saccavino, which was originally referred to the department by the Department of Investigation. While DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber said Monday that she could not name the person who passed the tip along to the DOI, Adams said during a separate press conference that former FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanaugh told DOI about the scheme, which was initially told to the DOI by Santiago, who had a falling out with Saccavino and Cordasco in 2023.
Kavanaugh announced in July that she’d be stepping down from the post after a rocky tenure leading the agency. During her time as commissioner, Kavanaugh sparred with a number of longtime chiefs who claimed that they had been unfairly demoted by the first female commissioner of the FDNY.
Kavanaugh’s successor, Robert Tucker, said in a statement that the FDNY will “fully cooperate with any ongoing investigations” into their work.
“Every member of the FDNY takes a sworn oath to conduct themselves honestly and ethically,” Tucker said. “Anything less will not be tolerated.”
Adams on Monday denied that alleged corruption like the scheme reportedly perpetrated by Saccavino and Cordasco would undermine public confidence in his administration, noting that the scheme began before he took office.
“The people who did the action should be blamed for it,” Adams said. “It started in the previous administration, our administration became aware of it, they took the proper steps and reported the action.”
Mayor Eric Adams faced further scrutiny on Monday after federal prosecutors charged two former FDNY chiefs with bribery. File photo by Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
Adams has come under scrutiny in the past for maintaining the so-called “City Hall list,” which notes projects officials in City Hall want the FDNY to expedite inspections for. Though Adams has denied the existence of the list – which also reportedly was started under the former mayoral administration – the indictment appears to hint at its existence.
According to the indictment, Cordasco said in an April 2022 email that he disliked the list, saying that it was “extremely unfair to the applicants who have been waiting at least 8 weeks for their inspection,” despite the fact that the alleged scheme he ran effectively created the same unfair conditions.
The list first was made public when the FBI reportedly began investigating donations made to Adams’ 2021 campaign for mayor.
Williams said that he was going to “limit what I say…on the City Hall list,” however he noted that the FDNY chiefs arrested Monday used the list to “effectively excuse or cover up the way they were pressuring other folks to expedite matters they were being bribed to expedite.”
Speaking to reporters Monday, Adams again denied that his administration maintained such a list.
“We stated it then, and we're going to state it again – this administration did not have a list named like that,” the mayor said. “We made that clear, and we stand by that.”
Monday marked the first time Adams had spoken with reporters since the resignation of his police chief and top legal counsel, Lisa Zornberg, who resigned without any prior notice on Saturday night.
Though he has not been accused of any wrongdoing, his administration appears to continue to be under the eye of federal prosecutors.
“I want to emphasize that our fight against public corruption continues,” Williams said on Monday while declining to comment on other investigations related to Adams’ administration. “We are determined to address it from root to branch, and our work is far from done.”
