Donor drug hunt
THE SPRAWLING federal investigation that rocked the NYPD’s upper ranks included a probe into alleged cocaine and marijuana trafficking by a Bronx restaurant owner described as “the biggest drug dealer around,” new papers reveal.
An FBI affidavit filed in connection with the upcoming trial of Mayor de Blasio donor Jeremy Reichberg and now-retired Deputy Inspector James Grant shows that in October 2014, the feds were examining a suspected scheme in which sales of stolen or untaxed liquor funded a pot and coke trafficking ring.
At the time, authorities suspected then-Chief of Department Philip Banks, Reichberg and another de Blasio donor, Jona Rechnitz, were backing the outof-state liquor scheme orchestrated by another restaurateur, Hamlet Peralta.
The proceeds of Peralta’s scam were funding a drug running operation run by Hugo Figueroa — a former snitch who returned to dealing despite repeated encounters with authorities, FBI agent Joseph Downs said in papers. There is no indication that authorities suspected Banks, Reichberg or Rechnitz of having any involvement with drug trafficking.
An unnamed person told the FBI in February 2014 that Figueroa was “the biggest drug dealer around and that he would never get caught because he knew how to get around,” according to the affidavit.
Figueroa previously cooperated with the FBI in a case that resulted in the seizure of over 400 kilos of cocaine in 2007, according to the affidavit. He told the FBI he owned a Bronx restaurant, Latino Express, that was frequented by cops, the papers say. The eatery appears to have closed three years ago.
“There is probable cause to believe target subject Hamlet Peralta is engaged in a wire fraud scheme involving the illegal wholesale distribution of stolen and/or untaxed liquor,” a February 2015 affidavit by Downs reads.
“The proceeds of the scheme are being used, among other things, to fund the illegal distribution of narcotics by target subject Hugo Figueroa, as well as to pay or otherwise reward one or more officers with the New York City Police Department for assistance in their official capacities.”
Undercover FBI agents spied on Peralta and Figueroa during a meetup in lower Manhattan on Nov. 10, 2014, papers show. The agents weren’t able to hear what ALBANY — A former donor to Gov. Cuomo charged in a bid-rigging scheme has agreed to help the state and the feds in their upcoming corruption trials involving a one-time top state official, the Daily News has learned. State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in court papers filed Tuesday moved to dismiss the single felony charge his office brought against Joseph Nicolla, the one-time head of Columbia Development, an Albany-based real estate firm. In exchange, Nicolla, 60, has agreed to cooperate with state prosecutors and the feds in their separate corruption trials involving Alain Kaloyeros, the former president of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, a source with knowledge of the situation said. Nicolla was charged by Schneiderman’s office in 2016 with one felony count of “combination in restraint of trade and competition.” According to the indictment, Kaloyeros colluded with Columbia Development to give the company an unfair advantage in a proposed dorm complex construction project for SUNY Polytechnic students that never happened.