Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today the arrest of a 26-year veteran of the New York City Department of Buildings on charges of accepting bribes from crane operators and crane companies.

The defendant, JAMES DELAYO, currently the Acting Chief Inspector for Cranes and Derricks has been charged in the criminal complaint with Bribe Receiving, Falsifying Business Records, Offering False Instruments for Filing, Tampering with Public Records and Receiving Unlawful Gratuities. 
           
Today’s arrest is the result of information discovered in two ways:  the New York State Inspector General issued a report in April 2008 concerning the licensing of crane operators by the New York State Department of Labor.  During that investigation, they developed information about city licensing of crane operators which they referred  to the New York City Department of Investigation. The New York City Department of Investigation was already looking into the New York City Department of Buildings’ Division of Cranes and Derricks.  The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and DOI have been investigating the spate of construction site incidents in Manhattan.

The defendant, who was appointed to his present position in March 2008, is responsible for crane operator examinations, both written and practical, the supervision of other crane inspectors and annual crane inspections.  Prior to his promotion, the defendant was the Assistant Chief Inspector for Cranes and Derricks.  The defendant’s salary was $74,000.

The complaint alleges that the defendant, on numerous occasions between 2002 and 2007, met with the owner of a Long Island-based crane company and accepted numerous bribes for passing individuals whether or not they had passed the written or practical exams.  On one occasion, he accepted a $500 bribe for passing an individual who had not even taken the examination.    In 2004, the defendant is also charged with giving a copy of the crane operator’s examination to a crane company operator in exchange for $3000. 

All cranes must be inspected yearly.  The defendant is charged with accepting bribes, ranging from $200 - $500, to re-certify cranes that he had not actually inspected and then filing false paperwork with the New York City Department of Buildings.

The defendant was arrested earlier today at the New York County District Attorney’s Office and he will be arraigned later this evening.

The defendant is charged with one count of Bribe Receiving in the Third Degree, a class D felony (maximum sentence 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison), one count of Tampering with Public Records in the First Degree, a class D felony (maximum sentence 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison), Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, a class E felony (maximum sentence 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison), Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony (maximum sentence 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison), and Receiving Unlawful Gratuities, a class A misdemeanor (maximum sentence one year in jail). 

Assistant District Attorneys Deborah Hickey, Carey Ng and Sean Sullivan, who are assigned to the District Attorney’s Rackets Bureau, are in charge of this matter under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Eric Seidel, Chief of the Rackets Bureau.

Defendant Information:  JAMES DELAYO,      06/03/48; 1088 Lydig Avenue, Bronx.

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