All 70 employees of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) who were arrested and charged in February 2024 have now been convicted of bribery, fraud, or extortion offenses, according to an announcement from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton. The convictions are part of a large-scale investigation into corruption involving NYCHA repair contracts.
Of those charged, three were convicted after jury trials, 56 pleaded guilty to felony offenses, and 11 pleaded guilty to misdemeanor offenses. Sentencing is ongoing, with some sentences reaching up to four years in prison. Collectively, the defendants accepted more than $2.1 million in bribes for awarding NYCHA contracts valued at over $15 million. As a result of these convictions, they will pay over $2.1 million in restitution to NYCHA and forfeit more than $2 million in criminal proceeds.
“Today’s plea of the 70th and final NYCHA pay-for-play contracting scheme defendant marks an important milestone in one of the largest single-day corruption cases in the history of the Justice Department,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “All 70 charged defendants have now been convicted for attempting to criminally leverage the contracting process of work for affordable housing for New Yorkers to line their own pockets. NYCHA residents deserve better. New Yorkers deserve better. This broad and swift action demonstrates our Office’s commitment to combatting corruption in our nation’s largest public housing authority—home to 1 in every 17 New York City residents.”
Jocelyn E. Strauber, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (DOI), commented on the outcome: “Today, the last of the 70 NYCHA employees charged with bribery and extortion in connection with the awarding of micro-purchase contracts pled guilty, closing the chapter on an investigation in which DOI and our federal partners exposed widespread corruption that touched almost one-third of NYCHA’s 365 developments in each of the five boroughs.” She noted that all defendants have taken responsibility for schemes involving over $15 million in no-bid contracts awarded for bribes exceeding $2.1 million.
Strauber added that DOI made 14 recommendations to improve controls over NYCHA’s micro-purchase contracting process; these reforms have since been implemented by NYCHA.
Brian D. Harrison, Acting Inspector General at HUD-OIG, stated: “Today’s final guilty plea is an important milestone in bringing to an end the egregious pay-to-play bribery scheme that wasted millions of dollars that should have benefited HUD tenants in New York and raised serious questions about the integrity of NYCHA operations.” He emphasized that all involved employees either admitted guilt or were found guilty within two years.
Ricky J. Patel, Special Agent in Charge at HSI New York, reflected on law enforcement efforts: “Nearly two years ago, HSI New York and our law enforcement partners announced a sweeping investigation that uncovered a brazen corruption and extortion scheme that marked the largest number of federal bribery charges in a single day in history.” Patel reiterated HSI’s commitment to protecting New Yorkers from similar misconduct.
Jonathan Mellone from DOL-OIG highlighted collaboration between agencies: “The seventy convictions obtained in this investigation send a clear message that public corruption will not be tolerated.”
Harry T. Chavis from IRS-CI remarked on his agency’s contribution: “IRS-CI will continually use its unique expertise in tax and finance to find leverage in assisting with complex investigations.”
According to court documents and proceedings presented during trial, NYCHA is responsible for providing housing across 335 developments citywide and receives over $1.5 billion annually from HUD. While most repairs require competitive bidding processes when using outside contractors, contracts under $10,000 could be awarded directly by designated staff without multiple bids—a process intended for efficiency but vulnerable to abuse.
During this period, employees demanded cash payments—usually between 10%–20% (ranging from $500–$2,000) per contract—in exchange for selecting contractors or approving completed work necessary for payment release.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton commended investigative efforts by DOI, HUD-OIG, HSI, DOL-OIG, IRS-CI as well as special agents within his office working together through joint task forces dedicated to rooting out fraud within public programs.
These prosecutions are managed by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jerry J. Fang, Jacob R. Fiddelman, Meredith Foster, Catherine Ghosh, Justin Horton; Emily Deininger; Jane Kim; Matthew J. King; Amanda C. Weingarten—all members or contributors within SDNY’s Public Corruption Unit.
