United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), James C. Barnacle, Jr., Acting Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), Christopher Ryan, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), Harry T. Chavis, Jr., and Special Agent in Charge of the New York Regional Office of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Office of Inspector General (“FDIC-OIG”), Patricia Tarasca, announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging former Commanding Officer of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) School Safety Division (“SSD”) KEVIN TAYLOR and Florida businessman GENO ROEFARO with bribery and related offenses. TAYLOR was arrested this morning and will be presented today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker. ROEFARO was also arrested this morning and was presented in the Southern District of Florida. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick.
“The NYPD is the greatest police force in the world, including because it invests wisely and honestly in resources,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “The NYPD procurement process is not for sale. As alleged in the indictment, in 2023 and 2024, Kevin Taylor engaged in a corrupt relationship with Geno Roefaro—a Florida businessman who paid tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of bribes to Taylor—in exchange for Taylor agreeing to use his power and influence within the NYPD to enrich Roefaro’s company. As alleged, Taylor also used his influence within the NYPD to attempt to extort at least two other businessmen for payments. Corruption will not be tolerated from those, like Taylor, who are entrusted to keep New York City’s children and teachers safe.”
“Former NYPD Commanding Officer Kevin Taylor allegedly accepted bribes to steer city contracts to a co-defendant, Geno Roefaro, and attempted to extort another company,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. “His alleged actions corrupted the city's contracting process and manipulated high-level executives. While this alleged misconduct is exceedingly rare among NYPD officials, the FBI will not tolerate those who abuse their authority for personal gain.”
“When public servants choose to ignore their responsibility to follow the rules and promote fairness and integrity in what they do, they compromise the very fabric of good government and people’s faith in it,” said Acting DOI Commissioner Christopher Ryan. “As charged, the former Commanding Officer of the NYPD’s School Safety Division allegedly monetized his authority and influence for personal gain, promising to advise and pressure others in City government to award contracts to a Florida businessman in return for tens of thousands of dollars in cash and gifts, including luxury hotel lodging, a helicopter tour, and Broadway tickets. In a second alleged corrupt scheme, the NYPD official used his position to try and extort money from employees of a second company with an NYPD contract, threatening economic harm to the company in an attempt to obtain the payments. I thank the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and our federal law enforcement partners for working with DOI to protect the City’s integrity.”
“Kevin Taylor is accused of leveraging his role as Commanding Officer of the NYPD School Safety Division to solicit bribes and extort employees,” said IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Harry T. Chavis, Jr. “By offering lavish vacations and high-end dining, Geno Roefaro allegedly exploited his illicit relationship with Taylor to secure government contracts. Following today’s arrests, they will now face the repercussions of their alleged misappropriation of City funds.”
“We are pleased to join our law enforcement partners in announcing this indictment,” said FDIC-OIG Special Agent in Charge Patricia Tarasca. “These charges reinforce the FDIC-OIG’s commitment to investigating all allegations of financial misconduct, including bribery offenses, as we seek to maintain and preserve the integrity of the banking sector.”
As alleged in the Indictment:[1]
From at least in or about July 2023 through in or about February 2024, TAYLOR repeatedly abused his authority and considerable influence as the Commanding Officer of the NYPD SSD by soliciting or demanding bribes in two corrupt schemes.
First, TAYLOR solicited and received bribes from ROEFARO in exchange for promises by TAYLOR to advise and pressure others in the New York City government to award ROEFARO millions of dollars’ worth of contracts.
At all relevant times, ROEFARO was the founder, majority owner, and chief executive officer of a company (“Company-1”) that markets and sells cellphone-based tipline applications to school districts and police departments. In or about summer 2022, ROEFARO began attempting to sell his products to the New York City government through seemingly legitimate means. When those legitimate efforts did not progress to ROEFARO’s liking, ROEFARO chose to bribe TAYLOR on multiple occasions to achieve the results he wanted. ROEFARO bribed TAYLOR with multiple cash payments and paid for TAYLOR’s vacations, entertainment experiences, and dining at high-end restaurants. In exchange, TAYLOR advised and pressured others, including other high-ranking officials at the NYPD and the City Council of New York, to procure goods and services from Company-1.
Second, TAYLOR solicited and attempted to extort as much as $75,000 from two employees (“Individual-1” and “Individual-2,” respectively) of a second company (“Company-2”) that had contracted with the NYPD to outfit the SSD’s members with ballistic vests. TAYLOR sought these payments in exchange for TAYLOR’s official acts facilitating and not disrupting Company-2’s contract with the NYPD. TAYLOR also threatened economic harm against Company-2 as a means to obtain the payments.
Specifically, in summer 2023, TAYLOR signed a contract with an event space (the “Event Space”) in Manhattan so that TAYLOR could host a holiday party for the SSD at the Event Space in December 2023. Through that contract, TAYLOR was personally liable to pay the Event Space more than $100,000 for the holiday party. In an attempt to satisfy that personal liability, TAYLOR repeatedly solicited payments from Individual-1 and Individual-2 in exchange for TAYLOR facilitating Company-2’s contract with the NYPD, and TAYLOR otherwise threatened Company-2 with economic harm to obtain those payments. Despite TAYLOR’s efforts, Individual-1 and Individual-2 never made the bribe payments solicited by TAYLOR.
* * *
TAYLOR, age 52, of Yonkers, New York, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and one count of honest services wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; two counts of bribery, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; and two counts of extortion, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
ROEFARO, age 39, of Pompano Beach, Florida, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and one count of honest services wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; and one count of bribery, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The statutory maximum penalties in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI, the Special Agents and Task Force Officers of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, DOI, IRS-CI, and FDIC-OIG. Mr. Clayton also thanked the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau, Group 25 for their assistance with this investigation.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Greenwood, Matthew J. King, and Daniel H. Wolf are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
This product has been reproduced from its original source.