420 Search Results for buffalo billion

Dec 11

2018

Buffalo Billion criminals get off easy

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Hold up a gas station and you’re looking at a minimum of five years in prison. Get napped with an ounce of crack and the mandatory minimum is five to ten years. Engage in bid rigging, and in the process violate the public’s trust and cost taxpayers potentially million of dollars? If you’re Louis Ciminelli, the sentence is 2 years and 4 months. For Alain Kaloyeros, 3½ years. Minus time off for good behavior, of course. And don’t worry about starting your sentence anytime soon. You’re a free man until you and your high-priced lawyers have exhausted the appeals process.[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jul 12

2018

Buffalo Billion verdicts warrant further action

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Alain Kaloyeros has been known as many things during his career. Dr. K. Near genius. Nanotech guru. And as of Thursday, convicted criminal. Ditto for Lou Ciminelli. Civic leader. Power broker. Philanthropist. And yes, convicted felon. Down the list of defendants we go. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. And, at the risk of repeating myself, guilty. It was a good day for clean contracting, for good government. But the job is far from done. Testimony during the trial established that the governor’s office installed Todd Howe, a longtime Cuomo associate, as the administration’s “eyes and ears” inside the operation that Kaloyeros headed[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Jun 26

2018

Buffalo Billion project kept hush-hush

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Executives at LPCiminelli kept the state-affiliated nonprofit overseeing Buffalo Billion projects in the dark about a second project the company was awarded under a no-bid contract, a key witness testified Monday in the ongoing corruption trial. The company was chosen – quietly – to build a lab and office for biotech company Albany Molecular Research Inc. before LPCiminelli had even submitted their response to the Request for Proposals to build a factory for SolarCity that prosecutors said was rigged in their favor by Alain Kaloyeros and lobbyist Todd Howe. Kevin Schuler, a former LPCiminelli executive who has pled guilty to[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Jun 15

2018

What to watch for in Buffalo Billion trial

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 On Monday, Buffalo businessman Louis Ciminelli, will face trial in federal court in Manhattan, accused of taking part in a scheme to rig the bids for the construction work on the huge factory for SolarCity. Federal prosecutors say Ciminelli and other executives at his company worked with Alain Kaloyeros, the state official in charge of Gov. Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion initiative, to secretly tailor the bid specifications so their company would get the contract. Kaloyeros, who is also facing corruption charges, presided over a system of non-profit organizations that were exempt from the usual state oversight, even as they handed[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Apr 6

2018

Staffing shakeup at IBM Buffalo Billion project

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Until recently, staffing agency Career Connection Inc. was the largest employer at IBM’s Buffalo office. But, last week, CEO Jessica Killgore told employees – including roughly 85 in Buffalo – they would be abruptly transferred to other companies, also IBM subcontractors. The move followed “a series of painful business challenges and unfavorable events encountered during the last two years,” Killgore wrote in an email to staff last Monday. “We feel it is imperative to take extreme action.” Gov. Cuomo lured IBM to town with $55 million from the Buffalo Billion. In exchange, state officials promised, the company would create 500[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Feb 19

2018

IBM Buffalo Billion project fails to deliver

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Among a string of investments in untested companies, the $55 million grant to bring IBM to town seemed like one of the safest bets of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion program. IBM’s new Buffalo location was an obvious choice, too, when the state was looking for a company capable of handling a multi-million dollar contract to provide customer support for state agencies’ IT needs. But, so far, IBM’s Buffalo office has been mired in dysfunction and disappointment. Far from bringing “cutting-edge software development jobs” to Buffalo, as the governor promised, most of the employees here work call center jobs as[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Jan 8

2018

Buffalo Billion emails highlight political giving

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A list of hundreds of emails from a key figure in the Buffalo corruption case underscores the role of campaign contributions in the scandal. Lobbyist Todd Howe repeatedly emailed his clients – including executives at LPCiminelli who are facing charges of bid-rigging – about giving money to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his then running mate, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul. The index of emails, submitted into evidence by defense lawyers at the end of December but withdrawn just days later, includes only their subject lines, not the full text of the messages or the dates they were sent. Still, it offers[...]

Posted 6 years ago