Byrnes Comments On Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion Corruption Conviction
Caledonia, NY— Today, a federal jury convicted Buffalo developer Louis P. Ciminelli and former SUNY Polytechnic Institute leader Alain Kaloyeros of fraud and conspiracy charges. The two are guilty of rigging a bidding process so that Ciminelli’s company would land a large state contract. The project was a cornerstone of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s upstate economic development plan known as the “Buffalo Billion”. The jury also convicted two Syracuse-area developers, Steven Aiello and Joseph Gerardi, in a similar bid-rigging scheme. Marjorie L. Byrnes (R-C, Caledonia), candidate for the 133rd State Assembly District, offered the following reaction:
“The ‘Buffalo Billion’ is just as corrupt as Cuomo. There is no way that a governor—who has a reputation as a fierce micromanager—was ignorant of the fact that $850 Million in public dollars was being illegally given to his political donors. The voters should remember that though the Cuomo Administration is up for sale, their vote is not. This November, use it to end Cuomo’s Albany corruption.”