Sweeping Federal and State Indictments Reveal Systemic Corruption In Governor’s Upstate Economic Development Program
By the end of today, the three biggest recipients of state economic development building contracts, plus the governor’s Upstate nano-tech czar and SUNY Poly President, and one of the governor’s closest aides will all be under federal or state indictment in a sprawling bribery and bid rigging scandal that involves close to $2B in state funds. For more than two years, Reinvent Albany has been spotlighting the systemic corruption risk in the subsidy empire operated by SUNY Poly’s Alain Kaloyeros and effectively controlled by the government’s office. The balloon has finally burst after months of watchdog groups and journalists pointing to what appeared to be — and were — rigged state construction contracts in Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced the indictments at a press conference this afternoon, followed by another press conference by State AG Eric Schneiderman. For a basic primer read this account by Politico’s Jimmy Vielkind.
We will have much more to come in the days and weeks ahead, but here are some basic sources: