Post by Logan on Apr 30, 2016 14:28:11 GMT -6
ALBANY – Hours after his office received a subpoena as part of a criminal probe of the Buffalo Billion program, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Friday ordered a review of his own signature economic development program, which is anchored by the massive SolarCity project along the Buffalo River.
The governor’s counsel, Alphonso David, said Friday that the investigation begun last year by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has “recently raised questions of improper lobbying and undisclosed conflicts of interest by some individuals” that may involve cases in which the state was “defrauded.”
The revelation by Cuomo comes after months in which the governor said he had no knowledge of the probe. The investigation heated up late last spring when subpoenas were issued to the governor’s economic development agency and SUNY Polytechnic, which are both involved in administering the Buffalo Billion program, along with two Buffalo companies that won contracts under the program, LPCiminelli and McGuire Development Co.
A spokesman for Bharara declined comment Friday night.
The governor’s office did not identify what were described as “some individuals” it said may be under scrutiny, but the New York Daily News, citing an anonymous source, said the focus of the federal probe may now include Joseph Percoco, one of the governor’s most trusted advisers, who earlier this year took a job with Madison Square Garden Co., and Todd Howe, a Washington-based lobbyist who worked with Cuomo in state and federal government posts and who has done work for LPCiminelli.
Read more: www.buffalonews.com/city-region/politics/cuomos-office-gets-subpoena-in-probe-of-buffalo-billion-20160429
The governor’s counsel, Alphonso David, said Friday that the investigation begun last year by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has “recently raised questions of improper lobbying and undisclosed conflicts of interest by some individuals” that may involve cases in which the state was “defrauded.”
The revelation by Cuomo comes after months in which the governor said he had no knowledge of the probe. The investigation heated up late last spring when subpoenas were issued to the governor’s economic development agency and SUNY Polytechnic, which are both involved in administering the Buffalo Billion program, along with two Buffalo companies that won contracts under the program, LPCiminelli and McGuire Development Co.
A spokesman for Bharara declined comment Friday night.
The governor’s office did not identify what were described as “some individuals” it said may be under scrutiny, but the New York Daily News, citing an anonymous source, said the focus of the federal probe may now include Joseph Percoco, one of the governor’s most trusted advisers, who earlier this year took a job with Madison Square Garden Co., and Todd Howe, a Washington-based lobbyist who worked with Cuomo in state and federal government posts and who has done work for LPCiminelli.
Read more: www.buffalonews.com/city-region/politics/cuomos-office-gets-subpoena-in-probe-of-buffalo-billion-20160429