The city has arrested 14 people for their involvement in a scheme to allegedly bribe inspectors, in an effort to speed up Brooklyn developments.
The suspects include property owners, developers and contractors, as well as two Department of Building inspectors whom property owners paid off, according to the Daily News.
Property manager Yehuda Ungar was one of the people arrested for allegedly requesting fake “clean papers,” and asbestos inspector Alexander Kogan was arrested as well for allegedly falsifying asbestos inspections. A master plumber was charged with selling off the use of his license.
The two-year probe was conducted by the Department of Investigation and the Brooklyn District Attorney‘s office.
Earlier this year, the Brooklyn DA’s office successfully prosecuted disbarred lawyer Domenick Crispino for pretending to protect homeowners from foreclosure and stealing more than $1 million from them. [NYDN] – Eddie Small