Two now retired FDNY chiefs were arrested Monday on federal charges and accepted $190,000 in bribes to expedite fire safety inspections before leaving the department.
Formerly FDNY Assistant Chief Anthony Saccavino and former deputy chief Brian Cordasco were indicted in a 43-page indictment that includes bribery, conspiracy, fraud and lying to the FBI.
Saccavino was the head of the FDNY’s Fire Prevention Agency and Cordasco worked under Saccavino.
The duo “repeatedly abused their positions of trust as high-ranking officials of the New York City Fire Department … from at least in or about 2021 through or including 2023 by soliciting and accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribe payments in exchange for providing preferential treatment to certain individuals and businesses with cases pending with the FDNY,” reads the indictment, which was filed in Manhattan Federal Court.
They allegedly conspired with a retired firefighter who owned an “expediting business” and then directed members of their agency to expedite the inspection process for that conspirator’s business in exchange for bribes, the feds allege.
The duo would repeatedly lie to justify speeding up the process, or use leverage from their positions, sometimes falsely claiming that the properties were actually on a so-called “City Hall List” of preferred buildings and projects that should receive faster inspections, the former claims.
Meanwhile, Cordasco publicly said he opposed the idea of a city hall list, writing in an email that it was “extremely unfair to the applicants who have waited at least 8 weeks for their inspection. Industry opposition will include questions about why some projects are advanced while others must be interrupted and pushed back?” according to FB.
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