What to Know
- The leader of a non-profit organization that operated soup kitchens, homeless shelters and affordable-housing facilities in New York City is accused of a scheme involving bribery and kickbacks from contractors, according to federal prosecutors.
- Victor Rivera, 61 and of Stony Point, New York, is charged with one count of honest services wire fraud conspiracy, one count of honest services wire fraud, and one count of money laundering, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Audrey Strauss and Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation Margaret Garnet jointly announced Wednesday.
- Rivera laundered some of the corrupt payments through intermediary entities he controlled, including through an alleged consulting company nominally owned by one if his relatives, according to prosecutors.
The leader of a non-profit organization that operated soup kitchens, homeless shelters and affordable-housing facilities in New York City is accused of a scheme involving bribery and kickbacks from contractors, according to federal prosecutors.
Victor Rivera, 61 and of Stony Point, New York, is charged with one count of honest services wire fraud conspiracy, one count of honest services wire fraud, and one count of money laundering, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Audrey Strauss and Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation Margaret Garnet jointly announced Wednesday.
If found guilty, each count carries a maximum potential prison sentence of 20 years, according to federal prosecutors. Attorney information for Rivera was not immediately known.
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Rivera, who was the president and CEO of a non-profit, which annually spent millions of dollars in public funds on real estate, security, cleaning, construction, and food expenses, among other costs related to the housing and social services the organization provided, according to prosecutors. Allegedly, from around 2013 until 2020, Rivera is took part in a scheme to enrich himself and his relatives by soliciting and accepting bribes and kickbacks from contractors doing work for the non-profit. Rivera allegedly ended up pocketing at least hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit gains. Rivera laundered some of the corrupt payments through intermediary entities he controlled, including through an alleged consulting company nominally owned by one if his relatives, according to prosecutors.
“Many of the over 8.4 million residents of New York City rely on government-assisted non-profits to provide food, affordable housing, and other essential services for their well-being. As alleged in today’s charges, by accepting bribes and kickbacks, Victor Rivera sought to leverage his position as the CEO of a non-profit into a very much for-profit situation for himself," Strauss said in a statement. "The vast majority of organizations in New York City’s non-profit networks honorably provide assistance to those in need, but when any individual selfishly exploits one of those organizations for their own personal gain, they will find themselves facing criminal charges for corruption.”
According to Garnett, corruption at the nonprofit social services contractors level remains an investigative priority for DOI.
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“As CEO of a City-funded nonprofit, this defendant should have been serving the underprivileged, including the homeless; instead, according to the criminal information, he schemed to enrich himself and his relatives, taking bribes and kickbacks from those doing business with his organization," Garnett said in a statement. "New York City provides billions of dollars to support nonprofits, many of which run organizations with integrity and provide valuable, essential services. But corruption at nonprofit social services contractors remains an investigative priority for DOI, and today's arrest should serve as notice to any individual who sees the City's coffers as a path to personal profit.”
