NYPD Chief Received Up To $500K From Developer Eyed in Corruption Probe
(DNAINFO) Murray Weiss | April 11, 2016 — Former NYPD Chief of Department Philip Banks received between $250,000 and $500,000 from a politically connected businessman at the center of a federal probe into a pay-for-favors scandal engulfing the NYPD and City Hall, DNAinfo New York has learned.
Jona Rechnitz — owner of the Manhattan-based real estate firm JSR Capital who also has ties to Mayor Bill de Blasio — made the “investments” payout to Banks in 2014 while Banks was serving as the highest-ranking uniformed officer in charge of the NYPD’s daily operations.
The money was reported by Banks on his “exit” financial disclosure form filed with the city’s Conflict of Interest Board on Nov. 30, 2014, a month after he abruptly quit the NYPD, turning down a promotion to First Deputy Commissioner.
Banks’ attorney, Benjamin Brafman, declined comment for this story.
The examination of Banks’ financial disclosure forms revealed he was not only a well-paid high-level police official, but a savvy businessman with numerous investments.
On his COIB form, which requests “positions, income and reimbursements’ received, Banks included his $200,000-a-year NYPD salary and disclosed the “income” from JSR Capital.