FORMER NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER BERNARD KERIK ADMITS GUILT IN CONFLICT OF INTEREST INVOLVING GIFT OF COSTLY RENOVATIONS TO HIS APARTMENT

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson and New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn announced today that former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik pled guilty to the misdemeanor crime of violating a New York City law prohibiting conflicts of interest by public employees. Kerik also pled guilty to the crime of failing to disclose loans obtained from a real estate developer.

Kerik’s conviction and public admission of wrongdoing is the culmination of a lengthy joint investigation by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office and the New York City Department of Investigation.

Kerik pled guilty to violating Section 2604 (b) (5), Prohibited Conflict of Interest, under the New York City Charter which makes it a crime for a public official to accept a valuable gift from a person or firm which the public servant knew was either engaged in business dealings with the City, or intending to become engaged in business dealings with the City.

Kerik also pled guilty to the crime of Failure to Report, a misdemeanor, in violation of the New York City Administrative Code (12-110 b.15). Kerik admitted that he failed to list loans from a real estate developer totaling approximately $28,000 when he filed an annual disclosure report with the Conflicts of Interest Board after leaving City service.

The pleas was entered before Justice John Collins, Administrative Judge, Bronx Supreme Court Criminal Division. Under terms of the plea agreement Justice Collins sentenced Kerik to pay $206,000 in fines and $15,000 in civil penalties to the Conflicts of Interest Board. Kerik also waived his right to appeal the two convictions.

District Attorney Johnson said: “The laws which criminalizes conduct of this nature are designed to ensure the public’s trust in government officials. The crimes committed by Bernard Kerik have eroded that trust. Hopefully, prosecution and conviction, along with the hefty fines imposed, and the defendant’s public admission of guilt, will help restore that trust and repair some of the damage.”

DOI Commissioner Hearn said: “There is now from Mr. Kerik a clear, unequivocal admission of wrongdoing that accurately reflects the criminal conduct of which he is guilty. It is now a matter of public record that he abused his position to benefit himself financially.”

The investigation leading to the former Police Commissioner’s admission of guilt was launched in December 2004 as a result of information that came to light following the defendant’s withdrawal to serve in the President’s Cabinet as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Kerik further admitted that while serving as Commissioner at the New York City Department of Correction, accepted a gift valued at approximately $165,000 in the form of renovation work on his co-op apartment in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. The work was done by Interstate Companies or a subsidiary between August 1, 1998 and December 31, 2000 during which time the company was actively seeking to do business with the City. Kerik, on two separate occasions, spoke with City officials about Interstate Companies and on one occasion permitted the use of his City office for a meeting between representatives of Interstate Companies and officials of the Trade Waste Commission, an entity of the City of New York. Investigators also discovered that Kerik had failed to list indebtedness in excess of five thousand dollars to realty developer Nathan Berman, as required by law, when Kerik filed financial disclosure forms with the Conflicts of Interest Board in February, 2002.

District Attorney Johnson and DOI Commissioner Hearn thanked their staffs for all of the hard work in the investigation and prosecution of this case. They acknowledged in particular: Walter Arsenault, First Deputy Commissioner DOI, Robert Joyce, DOI Assistant Commissioner, Assistant District Attorney Stephen Bookin, Chief of the Investigations Division, Assistant District Attorney Thomas Leahy, Chief of the Rackets Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Dennis Consumano.