NEW YORK—Five men were arrested Tuesday morning for fraud involving the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). The director of HPD’s Construction Services, Michael Provenzano, is among those arrested.
Provenzano allegedly received $10,000 bribes annually over the course of his five years at HPD. He also allegedly allowed a contractor to “tailor” his HPD labor requisitions and payrolls to escape wage violation penalties.
Luis Adorno, formerly an inspections supervisor in HPD’s Department of Architecture and Construction Engineering, allegedly solicited a $100,000 bribe to grant HPD construction contracts.
Real estate developers and contractors William B. Clarke, Panayiotis “Peter” Papanicolaou, and Placido Rodriguez were also were arraigned Tuesday afternoon, along with Adorno and Provenzano, at the U.S. Courthouse in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Clarke, an employee of a major real estate development and construction firm with millions of dollars in HPD contracts, is charged with bribery for allegedly arranging to pay for $50,000 in residential renovation costs for the home of a former HPD assistant commissioner.
Papanicolaou is charged for bribing the same HPD official by paying for his $12,000 honeymoon in Greece.
Rodriguez is charged with wire fraud conspiracy, after allegedly receiving nearly $300,000 in kickback payments from a general contractor on HPD’s Alexander Avenue Cluster affordable housing project in the Bronx.
If convicted, Adorno, Provenzano, Clarke, and Papanicolaou each face a maximum prison term of 10 years. Rodriguez faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison.
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