REPORT: New York fire chiefs charged in bribery scheme

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From Politico: Federal authorities arrested and charged two chiefs in the New York City Fire Department in a corruption scheme, alleging they took at least $190,000 in bribes to expedite FDNY building inspections.

Brian Cordasco and Anthony Saccavino are accused of secretly partnering with a co-conspirator to start a fire safety company while the pair were both FDNY chiefs. Businesses would pay the company to speed up their building inspections with the fire department, according to an indictment unsealed Monday morning by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

Cordasco and Saccavino would refer customers to the company, use their government jobs to pull strings and then get a kickback from the company.

The scheme is alleged to have lasted from July 2021, during Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, through early 2023, under Mayor Eric Adams.

The Justice Department shared the following details in a press release Monday morning:

SACCAVINO and CORDASCO repeatedly abused their positions of trust as high-ranking officials in the FDNY from at least in or about 2021 through in or about 2023 by soliciting and accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribe payments in exchange for providing preferential treatment to certain individuals and companies with matters pending before the BFP.

SACCAVINO and CORDASCO were at relevant times Chiefs of the BFP, which is responsible for overseeing and approving the installation of fire safety and suppression systems in commercial and residential buildings in New York City.  The BFP ensures that these systems comply with fire safety regulations by, among other things, reviewing and approving design plans and conducting on-site inspections of installed systems.  In many cases, BFP approvals are required before a building can be occupied or opened to the public.  As Chiefs of Fire Prevention—and, ultimately, the top two ranking members of the BFP—during the relevant period, SACCAVINO and CORDASCO supervised the BFP personnel who conducted these plan reviews and inspections.  For nearly two years, SACCAVINO and CORDASCO misused their authority as Chiefs for their private financial gain.

Specifically, SACCAVINO and CORDASCO solicited and accepted bribes from a retired FDNY firefighter, Henry Santiago Jr., who ran an unsanctioned “expediting” business (the “Santiago Company”).  Acting in large part at the direction of SACCAVINO and CORDASCO, Santiago promised his customers that he could “expedite”—or fast-track—their plan reviews and inspection dates with the BFP, in exchange for payment.   Santiago made this claim even though the BFP generally addressed applications on a first-come, first-served basis, and notwithstanding the significant wait times that BFP applicants generally faced during the relevant period. 

Behind the scenes, after a customer had hired the Santiago Company, SACCAVINO and CORDASCO directed BFP personnel to prioritize that customer’s plan review or inspection request in exchange for bribe payments from Santiago and/or the Santiago Company.  In carrying out their official duties as Chiefs, SACCAVINO and CORDASCO justified the priority requests within the FDNY by lying to their BFP subordinates about the basis for their directions to prioritize certain projects over others.   Santiago was paid by the customers of his company for this “expediting” and, in turn, Santiago made bribe payments to SACCAVINO and CORDASCO to obtain preferential treatment by the BFP for the Santiago Company’s customers. 

Collectively, SACCAVINO, CORDASCO, and Santiago received more than $190,000 in payments in connection with this scheme.

As part of the investigation into this bribery scheme, in or about February 2024, SACCAVINO and CORDASCO each participated in voluntary interviews with the FBI.  During those interviews, SACCAVINO and CORDASCO each repeatedly made false statements in an effort to conceal their involvement in the bribery scheme.

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