A New York City assistant commissioner was arrested by the FBI Thursday in connection with a bribery and extortion investigation, law enforcement officials said.
Wendell Walters, of the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, was arrested along with six others, investigators said.
Walters, who worked as an assistant commissioner for new construction, was charged with taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks in connection with housing developments in the city, NBC New York has learned.
Six developers and contractors were also charged in connection with the probe.
HPD has provided more than $8 billion in the construction and repair of housing since 1987.
An FBI spokesman confirmed the arrests but declined further comment, saying federal prosecutors in Brooklyn would be detailing the charges later Thursday.
Attempts to reach a Walters representative and department spokesman Eric Bederman were not immediately successful.
NYPD, the Department of Investigation, Housing and Urban Development and IRS officials assisted the FBI in the probe.
Law enforcement officials were seen executing search and arrest warrants at several locations this morning.
