The Office investigates and prosecutes the payors and recipients of bribes to public officials at the federal, state, and local levels.  Recent examples include the following cases:

• Former Commanding Officer of NYPD School Safety Division and Florida Businessman Charged with Bribery Offenses: In February 2026, Kevin Taylor, the former commanding officer of the NYPD School Safety Division, and a Florida businessman named Geno Roefaro were charged with bribery-related offenses.  As alleged, from July 2023 through February 2024, Taylor solicited and received from Roefaro bribes in the form of cash payments, luxury travel, and fine-dining experiences in exchange for Taylor’s promise to advise and pressure others in New York City government to award Roefaro’s company  millions of dollars’ worth of City contracts.  Nearly in parallel to that conduct, Taylor is alleged to have solicited and attempted to extort as much as $75,000 from two employees of a second company that did business with the NYPD in exchange for Taylor’s official acts of facilitating and not disrupting that company’s ongoing business with the NYPD.
• Former New York City Hall Official Charged with Bribery and Fraud: In January 2026, Anthony Herbert, the former Citywide Public Housing Liaison at the New York City’s Mayor’s Office, was charged with committing bribery, kickback and fraud offenses.  As alleged, Herbert solicited and received from a particular individual thousands of dollars in cash payments in exchange for Herbert advising and pressuring other City officials to award that individual’s company City contracts.  In addition, Herbert is alleged to have advised, pressured, and fraudulently induced other City officials to approve payments to a director of a particular funeral home under a financial assistance program for burial services for low-income families in exchange for thousands of dollars in kickbacks. Finally, Herbert is alleged, in April 2021, to have falsified an application for a loan issued pursuant to the federal Paycheck Protection Program.
• U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, His Wife, And Three New Jersey Businessmen Convicted of Bribery Offenses:  In Fall 2023, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, his wife Nadine Menendez, and three New Jersey businessmen named Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes were charged with bribery-related offenses.  The charges arose out of a years-long scheme through which Hana, Uribe, and Daibes paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to the Menendezes, in exchange for Senator Menendez using his official position and influence, including as the Chairman and/or Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for the personal benefit of these businessmen and to benefit the Governments of Egypt and Qatar.  Menendez, Hana, and Daibes were convicted in July 2024, following a nine-week jury trial.  On January 29, 2025, Menendez, Hana, and Daibes were sentenced to 11 years, more than eight years, and seven years in prison, respectively, for bribery, foreign agent, and obstruction of justice offenses.  Nadine Menendez was convicted in April 2025, following a five-week jury trial, and was sentenced to 54 months in prison for bribery, foreign agent, and obstruction of justice offenses.  Uribe pled guilty and was sentenced to time served.
• 70 Current and Former NYCHA Employees Convicted of Bribery, Fraud, or Extortion Offenses: In February 2024, 70 current and former employees of the New York City Housing Authority ("NYCHA"), the largest public housing authority in the country, were charged with bribery and extortion offenses.  Less than 22 months after the arrests—which were the largest number of federal bribery charges on a single day in Department of Justice history, all 70 defendants have pled guilty or were convicted at trial for accepting cash payments.  The defendants demanded and received cash in exchange for NYCHA contracts by either requiring contractors to pay up front in order to be awarded the contracts or requiring payment after the contractor finished the work and needed a NYCHA employee to sign off on the completed job so the contractor could receive payment from NYCHA.  The defendants typically demanded approximately 10% to 20% of the contract value—between $500 and $2,000 depending on the size of the contract—but some defendants demanded even higher amounts.  The defendants were collectively responsible for accepting over $2.1 million in bribes in exchange for awarding NYCHA contracts worth over $15 million.
• Two Former High-Ranking FDNY Officials Convicted of Bribery Offenses: In September 2024, two former chiefs of the New York City Fire Department  were charged with bribery, corruption, and false statements offenses.  Both defendants pled guilty to conspiring to solicit and receive bribes.  The defendants repeatedly abused their positions of trust as high-ranking officials in the FDNY from at least in or about 2021 through in or about 2023 by soliciting and accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribe payments in exchange for providing preferential treatment to certain individuals and companies with matters pending before the FDNY Bureau of Fire Prevention.
• Six Defendants Charged for Corruption at Rikers Island: In April 2024, six defendants, including three former correction officers, were charged with federal crimes for their involvement in corruption at Rikers Island. All six defendants have since pled guilty.  All six defendants have been sentenced, with sentences ranging from 12 months and a day to 41 months’ imprisonment.

The Office investigates and prosecutes individuals who violate federal campaign finance laws or engage in fraud through fundraising.  Recent examples include the following cases:

• Former Congressional Candidate Charged with Violating Campaign Finance Laws: In August 2024, Michelle Bond, who ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, was charged with conspiring to cause and causing unlawful campaign contributions in connection with her unsuccessful run for Congress in 2022.  Bond is alleged to have received illegal campaign contributions from her romantic partner and to have attempted to conceal their conduct by, among other things, making false statements to a congressional committee and the Federal Election Commission, and lying to her employer at that time.
• PAC Fundraiser and PAC Treasurer Convicted of Multi-Year Scheme To Defraud Donors:  In 2023, Richard Zeitlin and Robert Piaro were charged with defrauding donors to political action committees (“PACs”) through misrepresentations regarding how the PACs would use the donations.  Zeitlin, who owned various telemarketing call centers and associated businesses that raised millions of dollars for PACs, engaged in a scheme to defraud donors by providing false information about how the donors’ money would be spent and misleadingly suggesting that donors were giving to charities instead of PACs.  Similarly, Piaro, who was the Treasurer of multiple PACs that raised millions of dollars in donations, made and authorized fraudulent claims about how his PACs had spent and would spend donor contributions.  Both Zeitlin and Piaro pled guilty and were sentenced to 121 months’ imprisonment and time served, respectively.
• Two Sentenced to Prison for ‘We Build the Wall’ Online Fundraising Fraud Scheme :  In July 2023, Timothy Shea was sentenced to 63 months in prison for his role in carrying out a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors in connection with an online crowdfunding campaign known as “We Build the Wall.”  Two additional defendants were previously charged, convicted and sentenced to prison terms.  The defendants repeatedly and falsely assured their victims that donations would be used to build a wall along the southern border of the United States, when in fact the defendants and others stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor funds, which they used for personal expenses. 

The Office investigates and prosecutes officers and members of labor unions who engage in bribery or embezzle union funds.  Recent examples include the following cases:

• Former President of NYPD Sergeants’ Union Convicted in Connection with Scheme to Steal Union Funds: In August 2023, Edward Mullins, the former president of the Sergeant Benevolent Association, the union that represents all current and former sergeants of the NYPD, was sentenced to two years in prison in connection with a scheme to seal hundreds of thousands of dollars from the SBA through the submission of fraudulent expense reports.
• Former President And Former Financial Advisor Of Law Enforcement Union Convicted Of Defrauding Union’s Annuity Fund:  In May 2023, Kenneth Wynder, who served as president of the Law Enforcement Employees Benevolent Association (“LEEBA”), and Andrew Brown, who served as a financial advisor for LEEBA, were convicted at trial on charges that they embezzled and misappropriated money from union members’ retirement accounts.  As part of the scheme, Wynder and Brown made hundreds of thousands of dollars of fraudulent transfers from the retirement accounts for improper purposes, including for Wynder’s personal expenses and to pay one of Brown’s other clients.  Wynder also agreed with LEEBA’s Treasurer, Steven Whittick, to conceal Wynder’s income from the IRS and evade taxes.  Whittick pled guilty and was sentenced to more than two years in prison.  Wynder and Brown were convicted at trial and sentenced to 40 months and 18 months in prison, respectively.
• Former NYPD Detective Pleads Guilty In Violent Racketeering Conspiracy: In June 2023, six defendants, including former New York City Police Department Detective Saul De La Cruz, were charged with racketeering, bribery, and other offenses.  As alleged, between 2017 and 2022, the defendants were part of a criminal enterprise that committed residential burglaries and home invasion robberies, repeatedly targeting small business owners.  The majority of the targeted victims were Asian American.  Armed with guns and other weapons, members of the crew stole money, jewelry, and other property from scores of homes in states across the country.  The crew’s criminal scheme also included the use of false identification, bank fraud, laundering theft proceeds, and bribing De La Cruz, first an officer and later a detective of the NYPD, who helped members of the crew escape arrest.  In September 2025, De La Cruz pled guilty to participating in a racketeering conspiracy.
• Leader Of Brooklyn Chapter Of The United Brotherhood Of Carpenters Convicted In Union Bribery Scheme:  In September 2021, Salvatore Tagliaferro, who served as President of the Local 926 chapter of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, was sentenced to five years in prison following his conviction at trial for soliciting cash bribes from hundreds of prospective members in exchange for union membership.  As a result of the scheme, Tagliaferro received tens of thousands of dollars in bribe payments.

The Office investigates and prosecutes recipients of government funds who engage in fraud or self-dealing.  Recent examples include the following cases:

• Daycare Operators Convicted of Stealing Millions from Government-Funded Childcare Programs for Low Income Families:  In 2023, Martin Handler, Menachem Lieberman, Harold Schwartz, Isidore Handler, Ben Werczberger, Arie Rangott, and Charmane Wong were charged for their respective roles in overlapping schemes to steal from and defraud daycares receiving funding from the New York City Administration for Children’s Services and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”).  Several of the defendants were also charged with obstructing related HHS investigations. All seven defendants were convicted following guilty pleas or trial.
• Bronx District Leader And Board Of Elections Employee Convicted of Extortion and Fraud Offenses: Nicole Torres, an elected district leader in the Bronx and an employee of the New York City Board of Elections, was charged with illegally demanding payments from Bronx residents to herself and a local organization in exchange for selecting those individuals as poll workers.  Torres was also charged with falsifying documents to make it appear that certain individuals had worked as poll workers on particular dates, when, in truth and fact, they had not.  Torres and other members of the scheme then allegedly split the fraudulently obtained paychecks issued to the no‑show poll workers.  Torres pled guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion and fraud and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.
• Seventeen New York City and State Employees Charged with Fraudulently Obtaining Pandemic Relief Loans:  In November 2022, 19 defendants, 17 of whom were government employees, were charged with submitting fraudulent applications for loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The defendants included seven employees of the New York City Police Department, three employees of the New York City Department of Education, two employees of the New York City Department of Correction, an employee of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, an employee of the New York City Department of Transportation, an employee of the New York City Administration for Children’s Services, and an employee of the New York City Human Resources Administration.  The charges allege that the defendants submitted fraudulent applications for funds under the U.S. SBA Paycheck Protection Program and/or Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, all of which contained false statements about the small businesses they claimed to operate, and which resulted in the theft of more than $1.5 million.  All of the charges have been resolved and the sentencings were held.