I used to write about New York state and its College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering quite frequently as I was fascinated with their public outreach programs and the quantity of funding for nanotechnology education and research they received. Sadly, it seems the college has gotten caught up in a corruption scandal. Here’s more from a Sept. 22, 2016 article by Nathan Tempey for gothamist.com,
Alain Kaloyeros, longtime head of SUNY Polytechnic Institute and ally of Governor Andrew Cuomo, was arrested this morning along with several developers who were big-time donors to Cuomo, and two longtime members of Cuomo’s inner circle, Todd Howe and Joseph Percoco. Kaloyeros has for years been one of (if not the) highest-paid state employee, making at least $1.17 million last year in dual roles with the college and the Research Foundation for SUNY, which channels state funding to the school. In addition to boosting nanotechnology and allegedly fixing bids for signature Cuomo development projects around the state, Kaloyeros has a taste for John Varvatos threads, Italian sportscars, and misogynistic Facebook memes.
Most pertinent today is his alleged participation in rigging the Buffalo Billions project, which dedicated $1 billion in state funds to Buffalo factories, research facilities, and other developments, and the Central New York Hub for Emerging Nano Industries, a $15 million, high-tech film studio that was supposed to bring jobs to the Syracuse area (by and large, it hasn’t). The feds are charging Kaloyeros with conspiracy to commit wire fraud for allegedly helping to tailor requests for proposals in the two projects to two specific developers who were allegedly paying off Howe and Percoco, and had given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Cuomo’s campaign.
The federal charge against Kaloyeros carries as many as 20 years in prison.
“I really do hope there is a trial in this case so New Yorkers can see, in gory detail, what their state government has been up to,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara said at a press conference this afternoon [Sept. 22, 2016].
Kaloyeros is also being hit with three felony state anti-trust charges for similar alleged schemes related to dorm construction and other SUNY real estate arrangements, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced this afternoon [Sept. 22, 2016]. The charges carry 4 to 12 years in prison.
“There’s a long history of public corruption in New York state, going back to the days of Alexander Hamiltion and Aaron Burr, but it feels like we are living in a golden age of graft recently,” Schneiderman said at his own press conference.
There’s a lot more detail in Tempey’s article.
I can’t make too many comments about these allegations other than to note that the prosecutors seem to be relishing their roles.
The latest news has Kaloyeros resigning from his position in New York state and job hunting (from an Oct. 19, 2016 article by Tom Precious for The Buffalo News,
Alain Kaloyeros, accused in an alleged bid rigging in New York, is going job hunting in Pennsylvania.
Kaloyeros, the nanotechnology expert whose tasks once included overseeing Buffalo Billion projects like the SolarCity development, sought permission from a federal magistrate to travel to Pennsylvania “for employment purposes.