- The workers are expected to be charged in connection with various alleged corruption and kickback schemes
- The complaints against the employees accuse them of accepting cash payments from contractors in exchange for NYCHA contracts
About 70 New York City Housing Authority employees were arrested in a federal raid as part of a sweeping corruption investigation.
Dozens of employees and contractors were led away in handcuffs by federal agents after the raid Tuesday morning.
The workers are expected to be charged in connection with various alleged corruption and kickback schemes, according to the Justice Department, which has called the case the largest public corruption investigation in its history.
The accused employees are scheduled to appear in Lower Manhattan court later Tuesday.
They are accused of “accepting cash payments from contractors in exchange for awarding NYCHA contracts,” according to a Justice Department statement.
The indictments represent a single-day record for bribery allegations for the Justice Department.
About 70 New York City Housing Authority employees were arrested in a federal raid
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams will announce details of the corruption allegations later on Tuesday
The Justice Department is also expected to provide details of the allegations later today.
The New York City Housing Authority is the largest public housing organization in the country.
Inner City Press previously reported that complaints against the employees accused them of accepting cash payments from contractors in exchange for NYCHA contracts.
The fees may be related to “micro-purchase projects” for minor repairs and other construction work on city homes, the New York Post reported.
Local development managers can award city contracts under $10,000 without having to go through the public bidding process.
The Southern District of New York said in a statement: “Today's indictments represent the largest number of federal bribery charges in a single day in the history of the Department of Justice.”
Seventy NYC Housing Authority employees are transported away in handcuffs over kickbacks and no-bid contracts in the projects in one of the largest corruption raids in Justice Department history