Alex Tolozano, one of the former NYCHA employees accused of allegedly receiving the largest amounts of bribes in the corruption bust announced this week, lives in a five-bedroom house in New Jersey and drives a luxury Mercedes-Benz carreported New York Post.
Tolozano, 57 years old, had a history of three disciplinary suspensions and he retired just two weeks before being accused this Tuesday, February 6, when the largest number of federal bribery charges in a single day in the history of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Total 70 people were arrested: 55 current New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) employees and 15 retirees. The list includes several Hispanics identified as “super” buildings in several counties.
Bribery and extortion crimes were committed in approximately one-third of the hundreds of NYCHA developments, the nation’s largest public housing system.with 13,000 employees and 360,000 residents.
Tolozano, who was assigned to the Bronx, has been named as a suspect in receive $41,000 dollars in bribes between 2016 and 2019. Juan Mercado, “super” of the Hammel Houses and Carleton Manor complexes in Queens, has been linked to $314,300, the largest individual amount reported in a total greater than the $2 million dollars.
Ironically, Tolozano had been suspended for appearing naked in bed with a woman on a work video call two years ago, but he was still allowed to keep his job. And it was not the first time: in 1995 and 2015 he was also suspended and also received an official reprimand in 2014, for unspecified reasons.
It is unclear whether NYCHA officials knew he was under federal investigation when he retired in January after 35 years, with a pension that could be worth $68,000 a year, According to an analysis of New York Post on city payroll records.
Since at least 2013 The suspects “obtained just over $2 million in bribing private actors in exchange for awarding them no-bid contracts to carry out building repairs in various Housing Authority projects throughout the city, according to a series of criminal complaints revealed Tuesday,” he summarized Daily News. Typical bribes ranged from $500 to $2,000 or around 10 to 20% of the value of the contracts.
In her first reaction on Tuesday, the NYCHA CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt He said that those arrested “They put their greed first and violated the trust of our residents, his colleagues at NYCHA and all New Yorkers.”
New York Mayor Eric Adams has not commented. All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
2024-02-09 16:11:00
