Federal authorities allege that executive officials at 2 Cor, in violation of their warnings, have been found to have lied.
In a shocking turn of events, two executives of the Cor Development Co., Steven Aiello and Joseph Gerardi, were arraigned on Thursday in connection with a bribery and bid-rigging investigation in Upstate New York.
The federal criminal complaint unsealed on Thursday details the events of the meetings that took place at the U.S. Attorney's Office. The executives, Aiello and Gerardi, met with federal agents and prosecutors on June 21, 2016. The government had informed their attorneys before the meetings that they were subjects of an investigation and that prosecutors believed that Aiello's previous statements to the FBI were false.
Both Aiello and Gerardi denied paying a $35,000 bribe to Joseph Percoco, a former top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, during the meetings. However, Deleassa Penland, a criminal investigator with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan, stated that the men were lying when they denied making payments to Percoco.
The lies included denying making a payment to Percoco and claiming that Todd Howe, another former top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, never asked for campaign contributions for Cuomo's election campaign.
The government alleges that Cor made payments to Percoco in exchange for his help in rigging bids for state-funded construction contracts. Prosecutors have alleged that these payments were disguised through Howe's LLC (limited liability corporation).
The bid rigging led to Cor being given a $15 million contract to build a film studio in DeWitt and a $90 million contract to build a nanotech manufacturing facility, also in DeWitt. However, Gerardi lied when he said that Howe sent a draft of a state request for proposals for the DeWitt projects to Cor to help with drafting a broader, more open request so that other companies could compete for the work.
If Aiello and Gerardi lied during the meetings, they could be charged with making false statements to law enforcement agents, a federal crime. The meetings were under a "proffer agreement" that protected them from having their statements used against them, except for lies.
It is important to note that there are no direct search results detailing the 2016 Cor Development Co. bid-rigging and bribery case in Upstate New York, nor the specific charges against Joseph Gerardi, Steven Aiello, or Todd Howe's role in that case. However, Todd Howe is an Albany political operative involved in a separate embezzlement case and overlapping bribery matters, but there is no explicit connection presented here between him and the Cor Development Co. case.
The arrests and arraignments mark a significant development in the ongoing investigation into corruption in Upstate New York politics and construction contracts. The case is expected to shed light on the intricate relationships between political figures, developers, and contractors in the region.
- The ongoing investigation into corruption in Upstate New York politics and construction contracts could potentially expand to include the general-news category, as the recent arrests and arraignments of Steven Aiello and Joseph Gerardi from the Cor Development Co. are tied to a bid-rigging and bribery case.
- Beyond their roles in the criminal complaint related to the Cor Development Co., it is crucial to follow the developments in politics and crime-and-justice to understand the intricate relationships between political figures, developers, and contractors in Upstate New York, as well as any future implications that may arise from this case.
