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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

FBI bust 5 NYC housing dept officials.


FBI agents this morning arrested five more people in a widening probe of corruption allegations involving New York City government housing preservation officials.

One city official and a former city employee were among those arrested today on a variety of corruption charges, sources said.

The five will be arraigned later today in Brooklyn federal court.

Today's new wave of arrests marks the expansion of an ongoing probe by the FBI and prosecutors from the US Attorney's Office anti-corruption squad in Brooklyn into wrongdoing at New York City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, officials said.

Prosecutors have focused on allegations that city officials pocketed cash from real estate developers and builders seeking lucrative city contracts.

Last year, the probe ensnared Wendell Walters, who held a senior post in the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and he has since pleaded guilty to bribery and racketeering charges.

Walters has admitted accepting $2.5 million in bribes from developers.

He used some of the payoffs to help pay for his townhouse in Harlem’s historic Striver’s Row.

Walters faces up to 30 years in prison, but could get much less time if his cooperation with the feds proves useful.

Others charged last year during the first round of arrests stemming from the probe were a number of developers and two attorneys.

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