What to Know
- A former NYC Board of Corrections member Julio Medina, who was also CEO of a firm called Exodus, has been indicted for allegedly taking large bribes to help two others rip off millions from a city’s emergency housing program amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Medina, 64, is accused of “steering approximately $51 million in public funds” to a couple of businesspeople in exchange for $2.5 million in alleged kickback, the indictment filed by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said.
- Chistopher Dantzler allegedly ran an unlicensed security firm received $21 million in contracts to provide security to hotels providing housing to inmates released from Rikers amid the pandemic, prosecutors said.
A former NYC Board of Corrections member Julio Medina, who was also CEO of a firm called Exodus, has been indicted for allegedly taking large bribes to help two others rip off millions from a city’s emergency housing program amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Medina, 64, is accused of “steering approximately $51 million in public funds” to a couple of businesspeople in exchange for $2.5 million in alleged kickback, the indictment filed by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said.
Chistopher Dantzler allegedly ran an unlicensed security firm received $21 million in contracts to provide security to hotels providing housing to inmates released from Rikers amid the pandemic, prosecutors said.
Dantzler, 49, is accused of hiring paying subcontractors $12 million to perform security work and he “retained the remaining $9 million in public funds,” the feds said.
The FBI and city Department of Investigation said Weihong Hu owned two hotels in Queens that housed inmates and received $12 million in public funds. In addition, they said she ran a corrupt food catering business that allegedly received $17 million.
Hu, 59, allegedly joined Dantzler in paying kickbacks to Medina that included buying him two homes worth about $2 million, a $107,000 luxury vehicle, and paying off debts owed by Medina’s family, according to the indictment.
“While New York City was trying to curb the spread of COVID-19, the defendants exploited a nonprofit organization to enrich themselves, said acting US Attorney John Durham.
Exodus received a no-bid contract from the city first under Mayor de Blasio and continued through the Adams administration.
“The City” website first reported on the problems with Exodus and questions about the more than $122,000 million in public funding it had received from 2020-2023.
Investigators said there are texts and photos of meetings that help document the alleged corruption scheme. The three face charges that include bribery, wire fraud and money laundering.
Hu has raised money for the past campaigns for Mayor Bill de Blasio and Mayor Eric Adams. Attempts to reach the defendants attorneys for comment were not immediately successful. The three are expected to appear in federal court in Brooklyn Thursday afternoon.
