Three New York Police Department commanders and a Brooklyn businessman known to be a Bill de Blasio fundraiser were arrested Monday as part of an ongoing federal corruption investigation into the mayor’s campaign fundraising.
Deputy Chief Michael Harrington, Deputy Inspector James Grant, and Sgt. David Villanueva were arrested early Monday. Police Officer Richard Ochetal pleaded guilty before he was indicted, according to the New York Daily News.
Jeremy Reichberg, a Brooklyn-based businessman known to be a prominent de Blasio fundraiser, was also arrested. All four are expected to appear in United States District Court in Manhattan on Monday afternoon.
The arrests were made by FBI agents and members of the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau. The case was allegedly built with wiretaps.
Harrington, the commanding officer of Patrol Borough Manhattan North, and Grant, the commanding officer of the 19th Percent on the Upper East Side, accepted “substantial bribes” from Reichberg.
According to the criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, Harrington and Grant accepted gifts worth over $100,000, including hookers, flights, hotels rooms, jewelry, business cards and pricey meals. Reichberg also paid for home improvements and high-end seats at sporting events.
Harrington also made arrests of people at Reighberg’s request, according to the complaint.
In return, Reichberg and his friends in the Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn got various police favors, including police escorts, assistance with private disputes, free security at religious sites, fixed tickets and special access to parades and other cultural events, according to the criminal complaint.
Reichberg was known as a “fix it guy.” He allegedly carried around business cards identifying himself as an “NYPD Liaison.”
Villanueva, who was assigned to the gun-licensing division, allegedly helped expedite gun permit applications for a friend of Grant’s. That friend, Alex “Shaya” Lichtenstein, paid for work on Grant’s house in exchange for getting a gun license in approximately two months.
Lichtenstein, a well-known member of the Borough Park Shomrim, a Jewish security patrol, allegedly bribed Villanueva and Ochetal to get gun licenses for his clients, paying up to $18,000 per license. The process to get a gun license usually takes a year in New York.
Grant is also accused of helping expedite the gun-license process.
The fundraising investigation that led to the four arrests Monday had been going on for well over a year, according to the New York Times.
