Blasio Gate : Federal Prosecutors Cast a Wider Net in New York City Hall Inquiry

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The federal investigation is the first major inquiry of its kind during the two-year tenure of Mayor Bill de Blasio. Credit
Todd Heisler/The New York Times
N.Y. / Region
Federal Prosecutors Cast a Wider Net in New York City Hall Inquiry
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM and AL BAKER APRIL 10, 2016
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/11/nyregion/federal-prosecutors-cast-a-wider-net-in-new-york-city-hall-inquiry.html

  "Signs of a sprawling municipal investigation in New York City have
   emerged in a seemingly random fashion over the last week. Four senior
   police officials were abruptly transferred or put on modified duty. A
   Manhattan restaurateur was arrested and charged with operating a Ponzi
   scheme. Among his investors were two men who had raised money for Mayor
   Bill de Blasio, and one of the men was also a generous campaign donor.
   
   What ties these developments together — and others unfolding behind the
   scenes — is a long-running and wide-ranging federal investigation that
   has come to focus on possible corruption involving Mr. de Blasio's
   campaign fund-raising, the first major inquiry of its kind during the
   mayor's two-year tenure.
   
   A federal grand jury in Manhattan has begun hearing evidence in the
   case, according to several people briefed on the matter. The inquiry
   has come to focus on the two fund-raisers: Jona Rechnitz, who raised
   money for Mr. de Blasio's campaign and was also a donor to both the
   campaign and to a nonprofit group that supported the mayor's agenda;
   and Jeremy Reichberg, who held a fund-raiser for that nonprofit.
   
   Federal wiretaps in the case have captured their conversations, two of
   the people said, without elaborating on the substance of the
   discussions.
   
   Both Mr. Rechnitz and Mr. Reichberg served on a committee that planned
   Mr. de Blasio's 2014 inaugural celebration. Mr. Rechnitz owns a real
   estate development and management firm that controls several buildings
   in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Mr. Reichberg operates a consulting company,
   but the precise nature of its business is unclear.
   
   Two of the people briefed on the matter suggested that investigators
   were trying to determine whether Mr. Rechnitz and Mr. Reichberg
   benefited from some type of favorable municipal action, or the promise
   of some action, in exchange for their donations, their fund-raising or
   some other gesture. But the precise allegations under scrutiny by
   federal prosecutors in Manhattan and agents of the Federal Bureau of
   Investigation are unclear. The two people, like others interviewed for
   this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not
   authorized to talk about the case publicly.
   
   Neither man has been charged with a crime.
   
   To date, there has been no suggestion that Mr. de Blasio was involved
   in any improprieties, and it remains unclear whether the prosecutors
   and F.B.I. agents working on the case have developed evidence,
   conclusive or otherwise, of the kind of quid pro quo necessary to prove
   most corruption crimes in federal court. Speaking to reporters on
   Sunday, Mr. de Blasio said no one in his administration had been
   contacted by investigators, and he described his relationship with the
   two businessmen as cursory.
   
   A lawyer for Mr. Rechnitz, Marc S. Harris, said last week that his
   client had broken no laws and that he had not been notified that he was
   the subject of any inquiry. Mr. Reichberg could not be reached for
   comment. A lawyer who was said to represent Mr. Reichberg said last
   week that she does not comment on who she does or does not represent.
   
   Both the United States attorney's office in Manhattan and the F.B.I.,
   which are conducting the investigation, declined to comment.
   
   The investigation brings into sharp relief a central distinction
   between Mr. de Blasio's administration and that of his predecessor,
   Michael R. Bloomberg: Mr. Bloomberg's enormous personal wealth freed
   him from the traditional politician's burden of raising money for
   re-election campaigns, and essentially gave him independence from those
   seeking favorable treatment from City Hall.
   
   Mr. de Blasio's administration, on the other hand, has come under
   consistent criticism from good-government groups and political
   opponents who have denounced his relationship with a network of
   consultants and lobbyists who are close to the mayor and represent
   clients with business before the city.
   
   The investigation began in late 2013. In recent months, agents and
   prosecutors investigating Mr. Rechnitz and Mr. Reichberg learned that
   they were both also in close contact with roughly a score of
   high-ranking police officials, and may have lavished gifts upon them,
   some of the people said. This tangential discovery led the police
   commissioner, William J. Bratton, to reassign four senior police
   officials to desk duty last week. Two were stripped of their guns and
   badges and two others were transferred to less prestigious posts, a
   rare public rebuke.
   
   Investigators also learned that Mr. Rechnitz and Mr. Reichberg had been
   investors in the alleged Ponzi scheme, two of the people said. This led
   to the arrest of the restaurateur, Hamlet Peralta, who owned the
   now-closed Hudson River Cafe in Harlem. Mr. Peralta is accused of
   misappropriating more than $12 million from investors.
     
   The origins of the investigation had little to do with campaign finance.
   
   Instead, it was prompted by the discovery of a flurry of large
   financial transactions through a small Harlem liquor store, a law
   enforcement official said. The federal authorities began working to
   trace the funds, which they suspected might be linked to a narcotics or
   money laundering operation.
   
   This strand of the investigation, however, led them to focus on Norman
   Seabrook, the head of the union that represents city correction
   officers, and his close friend, Philip Banks III, then the
   highest-ranking uniformed official in the Police Department. Precisely
   how is unclear.
   
   Investigators eventually discovered that those transactions were, in
   large measure, movements of money by Mr. Peralta, whose sister owned
   the liquor store. She has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
   
   One part of the investigation remains focused on Mr. Seabrook and Mr.
   Banks, who were both friendly with Mr. Rechnitz and Mr. Reichberg, and
   whether Mr. Seabrook enriched himself through the union's funds, some
   of the people briefed on the matter have said.
   
   The inquiry became public in the last week because F.B.I. agents, weeks
   earlier, had made early-morning visits to the homes of senior police
   officials to question them about trips, meals and other gifts they may
   have received from Mr. Rechnitz and Mr. Reichberg, several of the
   people briefed on the matter have said.
   
   Also, at the end of March, a police detective who had also dealt with
   the two men declined to answer questions before the grand jury
   investigating the matter, several of the people said.
   
   With so many police officials aware of the F.B.I. visits, news began to
   spread inside the Police Department, and media reports appeared on
   Monday night and Tuesday morning.
   
   While most of the articles that followed focused on allegations that
   police officials took free trips and other gifts from Mr. Rechnitz and
   Mr. Reichberg, several of the people briefed on the matter said that
   for some time, the central focus of the inquiry had been on the two
   fund-raisers and how they sought to wield their influence.
   
   Mr. Rechnitz and his wife each contributed $4,950, the maximum amount
   allowed, to Mr. de Blasio's 2013 campaign, and Mr. Rechnitz also raised
   about $45,000 for the mayor. Mr. de Blasio's campaign has said it will
   return the contributions from Mr. Rechnitz and his wife. Through a
   company he controls, Mr. Rechnitz also donated $50,000 to the Campaign
   for One New York, a nonprofit that supported Mr. de Blasio's agenda.
   
   In May 2014, Mr. Reichberg held a fund-raiser at his home for the
   Campaign for One New York, raising $35,000. The group is in the process
   of being shut down.
   
   On Friday evening, WCBS-TV  reported that the investigation had widened
   to include an examination of Mr. de Blasio's fund-raising, which it
   suggested grew out of the police corruption inquiry. But several of the
   people briefed on the matter have said that the central focus of the
   inquiry has been on the fund-raising, and that the questions of police
   misconduct grew out of that.
   
   Mr. de Blasio, asked on Sunday how he knew Mr. Rechnitz and Mr.
   Reichberg, told reporters that he met them in 2013.
   
   "It's not a particularly close relationship," he said. "As I said, I
   met them first around the time of the general election. I hadn't known
   them previously, really haven't seen them in the last year or more."
   
   Asked what kind of work they did on the inaugural committee, Mr. de
   Blasio said, "They supported the effort."   
   
   Follow The New York Times's Metro coverage on Facebook and Twitter, and
   sign up for the New York Today newsletter.
   
   A version of this article appears in print on April 11, 2016, on page
   A1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Wider Net in an Inquiry
   at City Hall. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe "

N.Y. / Region
Amid Inquiry, a New York City Police Official Is Fired, Another Is Reassigned
By RICK ROJAS and ASHLEY SOUTHALL MAY 18, 2016
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/nyregion/amid-inquiry-a-new-york-city-police-official-is-fired-another-is-reassigned.html

  "A police official has been reassigned and a detective has been fired
   amid an extensive federal inquiry into municipal corruption, the New
   York Police Department announced on Wednesday.
   
   The police official, Inspector Peter DeBlasio, had been assigned to the
   Brooklyn South patrol borough and was transferred to an administrative
   position, Stephen P. Davis, the top police spokesman, said in a brief
   statement on Wednesday. Mr. Davis said that the department had also
   fired Detective Michael Milici, who was placed on a modified assignment
   on March 31.
   
   Police officials said that neither man would testify before a grand
   jury.
   
   In an email on Wednesday, Barry I. Slotnick, the lawyer representing
   Inspector DeBlasio, said, "We are opposing the demotion." (The
   inspector is not related to Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat.)
   
   Roy T. Richter, president of the Captains Endowment Association, said
   that Inspector DeBlasio, "cooperated fully and answered questions
   presented to him by federal investigators at his home in an early
   morning unscheduled interview."
   
   After his reassignment, Detective Milici filed for retirement and was
   suspended. Neither his lawyer nor the Detectives' Endowment Association
   responded to phone and email messages seeking comment.
   
   Detective Milici was called to testify before a grand jury, but
   refused, invoking his Fifth Amendment rights, police officials said. He
   faced departmental charges for his refusal to cooperate, which officers
   are required to do, police officials said.
   
   In recent months, the Police Department has placed several senior
   officials on modified assignments. Two deputy chiefs have also been
   moved into less prestigious positions.
   
   The investigation, led by the federal authorities and with the Police
   Department's Internal Affairs Bureau, has centered on two businessmen
   with ties to Mayor de Blasio and their efforts to wield influence with
   police officials and others in the mayor's administration.
       
   A version of this article appears in print on May 19, 2016, on page A23
   of the New York edition with the headline: Detective Fired Amid Inquiry
   Into the Police. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe   
   
   Related Coverage
   De Blasio's Elections Strategy, Under Scrutiny, Recalls Predecessor's  MAY 18, 2016
   
   
   De Blasio Plays Down Contact With Men at Heart of U.S. Inquiry APRIL 13, 2016
   
   
   Police Leaders Questioned Amid Inquiry of Businessmen Linked to de Blasio APRIL 5, 2016
   
   Federal Prosecutors Cast a Wider Net in New York City Hall Inquiry APRIL 10, 2016
   

N.Y. / Region
De Blasio's Elections Strategy, Under Scrutiny, Recalls Predecessor's
By WILLIAM NEUMAN MAY 18, 2016
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/nyregion/de-blasios-elections-strategy-under-scrutiny-recalls-predecessors.html


Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, whose fund-raising in a State Senate race in 2007 has drawn comparisons with actions that Mayor Bill de Blasio took in 2014.
Hilary Swift/The New York Times

  "Control of the New York State Senate was at stake. The mayor of New
   York City threw his weight behind a candidate, and money from powerful
   unions and wealthy donors poured into party committees that quickly
   funneled the money to candidates in the hotly contested race.
   
   The contours of that fund-raising strategy have become familiar, as
   state prosecutors and F.B.I. agents are now investigating an effort led
   by Mayor Bill de Blasio to channel donations to a group of Democratic
   candidates around the state in 2014.
   
   But a very similar series of events played out in early 2007 during a
   special election for a vacant State Senate seat in Nassau County — only
   then it was Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Mr. de Blasio's predecessor,
   who played a crucial role.
   
   The Nassau race was "a very perfect example of the fact that this is an
   unfortunately common practice and has been for quite some time," said
   Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York, a
   good-government advocacy group. In 2007, just as in 2014, Ms. Lerner
   said, money was "given to the political parties to be passed through to
   the candidates without regard to what the giver would be limited to if
   he or she were giving directly to the candidate."
   
   Because the Nassau race had striking similarities to Mr. de Blasio's
   effort in 2014, it could buttress the argument put forth by the mayor's
   allies that he was simply doing what had been done many times before.
   By singling out Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, they suggest, prosecutors
   risk criminalizing long-accepted ways of conducting politics in the
   state.
   
   Yet the current investigations focus less on the flow of money than on
   whether Mr. de Blasio's team went too far in trying to direct it.
   
   Contributions to individual candidates are capped at a relatively low
   level. But much larger contributions are permitted to party committees,
   and the law allows those committees to transfer an unlimited amount of
   money to candidates.
   
   It is illegal, however, for the party committees to agree with donors
   in advance that the money is destined for individual campaigns, a
   process referred to as earmarking the donations. And that is a line
   that investigators believe Mr. de Blasio may have crossed in 2014 by
   directing donations to small county committees that then transferred
   the money to local candidates.
   
   "The line between legal and illegal is razor-thin," Ms. Lerner said.
   "Certainly it is a critical legal difference, but in the real world,
   they're practically identical."
   
   No one has suggested that Mr. Bloomberg's conduct in 2007 was illegal.
   News accounts at the time of the special election highlighted the flood
   of outside money into the race, including from Mr. Bloomberg, a
   Republican at the time, and cited party leaders on both sides saying
   the election was crucial to the State Senate's balance of power.
   
   Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire, supported the Republican candidate in
   that race, Maureen O'Connell. But instead of making the relatively
   small donation permitted by law directly to her campaign, he sent three
   checks, for a total of $250,000, to a pair of Republican Party
   committees.
   
   The former mayor gave $75,000 to the New York State Senate Republican
   Campaign Committee and the same amount to the Republican Party's main
   state committee. He also sent $100,000 to what is known as a
   housekeeping account for the state committee — a type of account that
   is not supposed to be used to give direct support to candidates,
   although in practice the lines are often blurred.
   
   Mr. Bloomberg was not alone: From Jan. 1, 2007, through the election on
   Feb. 6, the campaign committee took in $1.4 million — a sum that, at
   the time, helped make the race the most expensive ever for a seat in
   the State Legislature.
   
   Large donations also came from unions — Local 1199 of the Service
   Employees International Union sent $84,400 — as well as New York City
   real estate interests and wealthy New Yorkers: among them, the
   philanthropist Jane Forbes Clark and the businessman Andrew Saul, who
   sent $25,000 each.
   
   At the same time that the money was coming in, it was going out to Ms.
   O'Connell's campaign. In four transactions in January, the campaign
   committee transferred a total of $767,500 to her campaign. The final
   transfer, for $87,500, was made on Jan. 24. Mr. Bloomberg's $75,000
   contribution was reported by the state committee as having been
   received two days later.
   
   The two Republican Party committees also spent enormous sums in other
   ways to support Ms. O'Connell. They reported spending an additional
   $745,120, raising the total support for Ms. O'Connell funneled through
   the committees to more than $1.5 million.
   
   "It was no surprise, and we didn't make any particular issue of the
   fact that the mayor of the City of New York, Mike Bloomberg at the
   time, was pumping in a lot of money," said Jay Jacobs, who has been the
   chairman of the Nassau County Democratic Committee since 2001.
   
   He said that because it was a special election and there were no other
   contests, it was clear that contributions to the party committees would
   go to support candidates in the race. In that sense, the conditions in
   Nassau in 2007 were not unlike those in the counties where donations
   rolled in during the 2014 Senate races; in those counties, the Senate
   contests were the ones with the most competition, so donations to local
   committees would have logically been sent in their direction.
   
   "No one ever told us how to spend the money," said Edward S. Lurie, a
   political consultant who was the executive director of the Senate
   Republican Campaign Committee in 2007, referring to the fund-raising
   for the special election, including the contributions from Mr.
   Bloomberg. "We did not have to spend it on Maureen O'Connell."
   
   He added: "That's the key. If you direct funds for the purpose of
   avoiding contribution limits, then you're violating the law."
   
   Ms. O'Connell, the Republican candidate in the 2007 race, who is also
   the Nassau County clerk, did not respond to requests for an interview.
   
   Her Democratic opponent at the time, Craig M. Johnson, who now works at
   a Manhattan law firm, said he did not recall details of the
   fund-raising from the race. "It was really cold," he said. "I spent my
   time knocking on doors trying to get myself elected, meeting voters."
   
   Stu Loeser, a spokesman for Mr. Bloomberg, declined to comment.
   
   On the Democratic side, the party's Senate Campaign Committee and its
   state committee took in more than $1 million from Jan. 1, 2007, through
   the election in February. The two Democratic committees made four
   transfers to Mr. Johnson's campaign, totaling $327,200. The two party
   committees also reported $1.4 million in expenses to aide Mr. Johnson's
   campaign.
   
   Mr. Jacobs, who has also served as the chairman of the state committee,
   said the law creates a loophole that is easily exploited, allowing
   party committees to take in donations far above the levels permitted
   for candidates while letting the party transfer unlimited sums to
   candidates' campaigns.
   
   "If that's not a legal provision to evade — if you want to use that
   word — to evade limits on contributions to individual candidates, I
   don't know what is," Mr. Jacobs said. "The answer to fix the problem
   is, fix that loophole."
   
   In the end, the 2007 race was similar in another way to Mr. de Blasio's
   efforts, which backed mostly losing candidates and failed in its
   objective to swing the Senate to Democratic control. Despite Mr.
   Bloomberg's contributions, Ms. O'Connell lost.

   Correction: May 19, 2016   
   Because of an editing error, an earlier version of a picture caption
   with this article gave an incorrect middle initial for the former
   mayor. He is Michael R. Bloomberg, not Michael J.
      
  A version of this article appears in print on May 19, 2016, on page A24
   of the New York edition with the headline: Mayor's Elections Strategy
   Recalls That of Predecessor. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
   
   Related Coverage
   
   Amid Inquiry, a New York City Police Official Is Fired, Another Is Reassigned MAY 18, 2016
   
   ABOUT NEW YORK
   Report on de Blasio Election Spending Is Full of Details and Holes APRIL 26, 2016
   
   Mayor de Blasio's Campaign Fund-Raising Scrutinized in U.S. Corruption Inquiry APRIL 8, 2016
   
   
   De Blasio Donors Took Pride in Connections With Top Police Officials APRIL 11, 2016
   
  "

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2016/05/8599249/ulrich-prepares-confidence-case-against-de-blasio
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/20/nyregion/de-blasio-seeking-high-ground-skips-hearing-on-control-of-new-yorks-schools.html
http://gawker.com/meet-bill-de-blasios-shadow-government-1777660499
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/leak-board-elections-referral-de-blasio-probed-article-1.2644496
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/nyregion/de-blasios-elections-strategy-under-scrutiny-recalls-predecessors.html

[rmstock]

I don't know what or why this is all happening, but was it Donald Trump
who lit the fuse in NY City, by putting the heat on Obama's best buddy :
Mayor Bill de Blasio ? It was Obama who ensured the election of de Blasio
as Mayor :

METRO

Obama boosts de Blasio with visit to Junior's
By Yoav Gonen | October 26, 2013 | 2:04am
http://nypost.com/2013/10/26/obama-boosts-de-blasio-with-visit-to-juniors/

TAKING THE CAKE: President Obama — toting two cheesecakes for the flight home — is joined by Bill de Blasio at Junior's in Downtown Brooklyn.
Photo: Getty

  "Bill de Blasio was able to have his cake and eat it, too — with
   President Obama.
   
   The president gave the Democratic mayoral nominee a big boost Friday by
   bringing him along to Junior's restaurant in Downtown Brooklyn after
   both were together at a high school.
   
   "Do you know your next mayor here?" Obama told patrons and employees at
   the cheesecake mecca, where he worked the room with greetings, hugs and
   kisses.
   
   The drop-in with de Blasio stood in stark contrast to the 2009 mayoral
   race, when Bill Thompson was the Democratic nominee and Obama barely
   acknowledged him.
   
   Before heading out, the president picked up two cheesecakes to go — one
   plain and one strawberry.
   
   "We'll be eating it on Air Force One," he told employees.
   
   The presidential visit inspired Junior's workers to speed up their
   secret push to unionize.
   
   Mike Feld, an organizer for UNITE HERE Local 100, said 102 of 140
   workers signed a petition and had been planning to present it to
   management Saturday before deciding on the time change.
   
   "It was influenced by the Obama visit," he said.
   
   Obama was in Brooklyn to tout Pathways in Technology Early College HS
   in Crown Heights. Obama applauded the popular school, called P-Tech, in
   his State of the Union speech in February.
   
   At the school, Obama backed de Blasio's proposal to give every child in
   the city access to universal pre-K.
   
   In other campaign news, de Blasio took in a whopping $3.7 million in
   campaign donations during the first three weeks of October — roughly $3
   million more than GOP nominee Joe Lhota, the latest filings show.
   
   FILED UNDER BARACK OBAMA ,  BILL DE BLASIO ,  MAYORAL RACE
   
   READ NEXT    Shock as cemetery allows runners after Obama visit closes ...
   
   MORE ON:
   MAYORAL RACE
   De Blasio is apparently blind and deaf
   Stringer gets award as rumors of mayoral challenge swirl
   De Blasio betrayed voters with sketchy fundraising
   CNN boss Jeff Zucker said to be eyeing New York mayoral bid "

[rmstock]

This is one to watch :


imdb score :  6.2/10 (16,605)
R | 1h 51min | Drama, Thriller | 16 February 1996 (USA)
Director: Harold Becker
Writers: Ken Lipper, Paul Schrader, Nicholas Pileggi, Bo Goldman
Stars: Al Pacino, John Cusack, Bridget Fonda
Country: USA
Language: English
Release Date: 16 February 1996 (USA)
Also Known As:  Canada (French title) Complot dans la ville
Filming Locations: Belt Parkway, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115907/

Tomatoe rating : 54% 38%
Average Rating: 6/10

[rmstock]

N.Y. / Region

3 New York Police Commanders Are Arrested on Corruption Charges
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM and JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN JUNE 20, 2016
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/21/nyregion/new-york-police-arrest.html

  "Three New York Police Department commanders, including a deputy chief,
   were arrested early Monday, along with a Brooklyn businessman, on
   federal corruption charges stemming from one of several continuing
   investigations into Mayor Bill de Blasio's campaign fund-raising,
   according to people with knowledge of the matter.
   
   The arrests, of a deputy chief, a deputy inspector and a sergeant, were
   one of the most significant roundups of police supervisors in the
   recent history of the department. In striking the top ranks, the case
   is a particular blow to the storied — and sometimes sullied —
   reputation of the nation's largest municipal police force.
   
   The charges detail lavish gifts the two senior police officials are
   accused of receiving: complimentary Super Bowl tickets, expensive meals
   and free overseas trips, including at least one taken in the company of
   a prostitute, the people said. The sergeant was charged in a scheme
   that involved aiding applicants for firearms licenses.
   
   The gifts were largely paid for by two businessmen, both of whom have
   been generous supporters of the mayor. Jeremiah Reichberg, 42, of
   Borough Park, Brooklyn, was charged along with the officers, the people
   said. Jona S. Rechnitz, 33, of the Upper West Side, had been a target
   of the fund-raising investigation until recent weeks, when he pleaded
   guilty to corruption charges and began cooperating with the federal
   authorities, the people said.
   
   
   The arrests in the early morning hours by agents with the F.B.I. and
   investigators from the Police Department's Internal Affairs Bureau were
   followed by the execution of search warrants, the people said. The
   charges included bribery, honest services wire fraud and conspiracy,
   and they were scheduled to be announced at a news conference later on
   Monday.
   
   Arrested were Deputy Chief Michael J. Harrington, 50; Deputy Inspector
   James M. Grant, 43; and Sgt. David Villanueva, 42. They were expected
   to appear in United States District Court in Manhattan on Monday
   afternoon. Their lawyers could not immediately be reached for comment.
   
   While the charges being leveled against the police officials were
   uncovered during the fund-raising investigation focused on Mr. de
   Blasio, a Democrat, and his inner circle, there has been no suggestion
   that the mayor himself was involved in the conduct described in the
   charging documents in the case, which are expected to be unsealed
   Monday morning. The fund-raising investigation and several other
   inquiries by federal prosecutors, the F.B.I. and other agencies focused
   on the mayor's donors and fund-raising were continuing. The scope of
   the broader fund-raising inquiries remains unclear.
   
   Police Commissioner William J. Bratton has said the department believes
   investigators have identified all of the police officials involved in
   the alleged misconduct, though it is unknown whether the charges on
   Monday will conclude that line of inquiry by federal prosecutors,
   F.B.I. agents and Internal Affairs investigators.
   
   The particular fund-raising investigation that led to these arrests has
   been going on for well over a year, and in recent months, details of
   some of the accusations against the police officials who have been
   charged — and others — have been widely reported in news accounts.
   Nearly a dozen mostly senior police officials have been disciplined by
   the Police Department in some way as a result of the inquiry —
   including some of those charged on Monday. Those disciplined include
   five deputy chiefs and a deputy inspector; four of the chiefs and the
   deputy inspector have put in for retirement.
   
   Mr. Rechnitz's cooperation with federal prosecutors and F.B.I. agents
   has already helped prosecutors bring corruption charges in another case
   linked to the same fund-raising investigation, people briefed on the
   matter have said. In that case, a criminal complaint unsealed on June 8
   charged Norman Seabrook, the powerful head of the union that represents
   city correction officers, and Murray Huberfeld, a hedge fund financier,
   with honest services fraud and conspiracy.
   
   That complaint said Mr. Rechnitz had pleaded guilty to committing
   honest services fraud in connection with the scheme in which Mr.
   Seabrook and Mr. Huberfeld were charged, "among other things,"
   suggesting he was involved in additional criminal conduct. While the
   document does not identify Mr. Rechnitz by name, referring to him only
   as CW-1, or Cooperating Witness 1, several people with knowledge of the
   matter said CW-1 was Mr. Rechnitz. At a news conference announcing the
   arrests of Mr. Seabrook and Mr. Huberfeld, Preet Bharara, the United
   States attorney for the Southern District of New York, whose office
   filed the complaint, would not answer questions about the identity of
   CW-1 or the degree to which the witness could be helpful in other cases.
   
   But Mr. Bharara indicated that the witness was "assisting other
   investigations."
   
   The criminal complaint in the earlier case details two trips that Mr.
   Rechnitz, Mr. Seabrook and another businessman — also a supporter of
   the mayor — took to the Dominican Republic. On the first one, in
   November 2013, they were accompanied by an unnamed officer from the
   Police Department. On the second one, in December 2014, the four men
   were accompanied by a fifth unnamed person. Mr. Rechnitz paid for the
   airfare for both trips.
   
   Then, in March 2014, Mr. Seabrook, Mr. Rechnitz, the police officer and
   the other businessman — Mr. Reichberg, who was identified in the
   criminal complaint as Co-Conspirator 1 or CC-1 — traveled to Israel,
   with Mr. Rechnitz paying the airfare, according to the complaint. In
   July of that year, he paid for the same group to travel to Las Vegas
   and then Burbank, Calif., the complaint said.
   
   Al Baker contributed reporting.
   
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