SUPERVISORY OFFICIALS AT NYC DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING PRESERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT PLEAD GUILTY TO BRIBERY CHARGES

Two former supervisors at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) pleaded guilty today to bribery charges in connection with a widespread scheme to bribe high-ranking HPD officials in return for lucrative construction contracts. Michael Provenzano, formerly HPD’s Director of Construction Services, and Luis Adorno, formerly an inspections supervisor in HPD’s Department of Architecture and Construction Engineering, each pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Nina Gershon, at the U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York. As part of their plea agreements, Provenzano and Adorno agreed to forfeit to the government assets totaling $30,000 and $100,000, respectively, as proceeds of their crimes.

The guilty pleas were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Mary Galligan, Acting Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); Robert Panella, Special Agent-in-Charge, United States Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations; and Rose Gill Hearn, Commissioner, New York City Department of Investigation (DOI).

HPD is the largest municipal developer of affordable housing in the United States. As detailed in previously-filed complaints against Provenzano and Adorno, Provenzano annually solicited and received $10,000 bribes over the course of several years from a general contractor with extensive HPD work in return for, among other things, providing HPD inspection reports to the contractor. This allowed the contractor to tailor his HPD labor requisitions and certified payrolls to the inspection reports to avoid being penalized for prevailing wage violations. Adorno solicited and received a $100,000 bribe from a general contractor in return for Adorno’s support in advocating for the contractor to be awarded HPD construction contracts.

“The guilty pleas announced today serve to vindicate the public’s interest in holding accountable New York City officials who turned their backs on those they were hired to serve — the neediest New Yorkers. These guilty pleas also mark our determined and continuing pursuit of corruption within the publicly-funded affordable housing sector,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “Those who qualify for affordable housing deserve no less.”