New corruption trial could muddy Cuomo
Gov. Cuomo’s name will be dragged into yet another federal corruption trial starting this week, and his re-election opponents are already trying to make hay of it.
Four upstate men will go on trial in Manhattan federal court Monday for alleged bid-rigging tied to Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion economic-development project.
The trial, which centers on the Cuomo administration’s “economic guru,” Alain Kaloyeros, comes just three months after former gubernatorial aide and close family friend Joe Percoco was convicted of pocketing more than $300,000 in bribes.
Cuomo’s foes are undeterred by the fact that he has not been accused of any wrongdoing in either case.
“It’s been corruption scandal after corruption scandal,” a spokeswoman for Cuomo’s Democratic primary opponent, Cynthia Nixon, told The Post. “We feel this is one of the reasons he is vulnerable. This is about wealthy donors buying access.”
Republican gubernatorial nominee Marc Molinaro called the trial “one piece in a multibillion-dollar corruption puzzle. [Cuomo has] handed out billions of dollars in grants and tax breaks to people who’ve given him millions in political donations.”
The feds say Cuomo tapped Kaloyeros, a founder of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, to help dole out state funds to boost development in Syracuse and Buffalo because the nanoscientist was successful at getting tech companies to invest in Albany.
But rather than choosing the best companies for the best price, Kaloyeros steered lucrative state contracts to two companies, LPCiminelli and Cor Development, that had made sizable contributions to Cuomo’s re-election campaign, the feds allege. Kaloyeros did this because he wanted to curry favor with Cuomo, who had influence over his ambition to be put in charge of all SUNY campuses, prosecutors say.
Kaloyeros and corrupt lobbyist and former Cuomo associate Todd Howe tailored development projects to fit LPCiminelli and Cor to the exclusion of other potential bidders, the feds claim.
Ex-LPCiminelli CEO Louis Ciminelli and Cor executives Steven Aiello and Joseph Gerardi are Kaloyeros’ co-defendants.
“It certainly doesn’t smell good for the governor,” Albany Law School Professor Vin Bonventre said of the allegations. “I imagine his adversary in the upcoming election is going to be raising this an awful lot.”
Cuomo spokeswoman Abbey Fashouer pointed out that the “campaign contributions were not unlawful and were not part of the alleged criminality. As the governor has said, there is zero tolerance for any violation of the public trust and if anyone is found guilty of wrongdoing, the book should be thrown at them.”
It certainly doesn’t smell good for the governor. — Albany A Law School Professor Vin V Bonventre on Gov. Cuomo’s (left) link to a bid-rig scandal