Brooklyn, NY – 14 Charged In Separate Brooklyn Construction Bribery Schemes

Brooklyn, NY – Mark G. Peters, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), in partnership with Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, announced today charges against 14 individuals, including property managers and developers, a private asbestos inspector, and two inspectors with the New York City Department of Buildings (“DOB”) in connection with three separate schemes involving construction fraud, including fraudulent asbestos inspections by a private, certified asbestos investigator; bribe receiving by two DOB inspectors in exchange for improperly passing properties; and the submission of fabricated permits by a Licensed Master Plumber (“LMP”) to cover illegal plumbing work, according to the charges. One of the arrests is pending.

Commissioner Mark G. Peters said, “These arrests again demonstrate the enduring link between
integrity and safety that DOI has traced over its many construction-related investigations. Taking a bribe and looking the other way on inspections, falsifying inspection reports, and trading a license for cash, all compromise the integrity of construction projects and endanger workers and residents.

DOI in its partnership with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office has rooted out these varying forms of construction-related fraud and will continue to work to keep the City’s construction sites safe.”

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said, “These investigations are a testament to our continuing commitment to keep people safe as developers too often are willing to take shortcuts at the risk of public safety to rapidly get their properties to market.

These cases are all the more disturbing because City employees who are charged with making sure buildings are up to code were willing to overlook violations in exchange for cash and gifts. I look forward to continuing to work with DOI and will not let anybody sell the safety of the people of Brooklyn for their own profit.”

Each of the criminal cases announced today stemmed from DOI’s monitoring of court-ordered
wiretaps related to another investigation with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office earlier this year.

In that investigation, more than three dozen individuals, including seven National Grid employees, were charged as part of a scheme to operate a shadow utility company and conduct illegal construction work.

According to the criminal complaints, DOB Construction Inspector HIRAM BEZA, 55, of Queens, N.Y., issued favorable construction inspections to multiple property owners and managers in exchange for cash payoffs and various home renovations, including the construction of a brand new kitchen in his home. The investigation also exposed misconduct by another DOB Construction Inspector, DEAN MULZAC. MULZAC, 53, of Brooklyn, N.Y., took free jewelry from a property manager who also owned a jewelry store in return for passing the property manager’s inspection.

BEZA and MULZAC were both charged with Bribe Receiving in the Third Degree, a class D felony,
and Official Misconduct, a class A misdemeanor. BEZA was also charged with Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony.
BEZA has been employed by DOB since April 2005, and receives an annual base salary of $68,672; MULZAC has been employed by DOB since April 2005, and receives an annual base salary of $71,515. Each was suspended upon arrest.