New York State Deputy Governor Brian Benjamin has resigned after being charged with corruption.
the essentials in brief
- Investigators accuse 45-year-old abuse of office.
“I have accepted Brian Benjamin’s resignation effective immediately,” Governor Kathy Hochul said on Tuesday evening (local time). The legal process in this case is not yet complete. But “both of us are aware that he cannot remain vice governor,” emphasized Hochul.
“New Yorkers deserve to have absolute faith in their government,” Hochul said. She will “continue to work every day” to keep this promise.
Benjamin is suspected of accepting campaign donations from a Harlem real estate investor in exchange for $50,000 in public support to a non-profit organization controlled by the investor. Benjamin, 45, was a senator in the New York state legislature at the time and was running to be New York City’s comptroller. The Harlem real estate investor was arrested in November last year.
Prosecutors have accused Benjamin of “abusing his office as New York State Senator” and of being involved in a “scheme of bribery” by “using public funds for his own corrupt purposes”. There are also other allegations, including falsification of documents. The politician faces a long prison sentence. He was due to appear before a court in Manhattan on Tuesday (local time).
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