Details Released in Federal Corruption Indictments Against Ed Mangano, His Wife and John Venditto

UPDATED Thursday at 3:50 p.m.: Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, his wife and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto face a 13-count indictment in connection to conspiracy to commit federal bribery, fraud and extortion, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.

The two high-ranking officials, as well as Mangano’s wife, Linda Mangano, 54, were arrested Thursday and appeared in U.S. District Court in Central Islip.

Ed Mangano and Venditto were charged with conspiring to commit federal program bribery and honest services wire fraud. Ed Mangano was also charged with extortion under color of official right. All three were charged with obstructing justice, and Linda Mangano and Venditto were charged with making false statements.

Ed Mangano, 54, of Bethpage, has been county executive since January 2010 and Venditto, 67, of North Massapequa, has served his position since January 1998. They each face a long prison sentence if convicted of the top charges.

Federal agents also executed two search warrants Thursday morning at the Manganos’ home in Bethpage and Mangano’s office in Mineola.

Hours after the Manganos and Venditto were arrested on federal corruption charges, local leaders were already calling on the elected officials to step down from their positions. Among those asking for Ed Mangano and Venditto to step down was Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos.

Maragos released a statement on the indictment and said, "Their alleged actions, if proven true, are a betrayal of the public trust and further shake our trust in government. Given the nature of the charges, it would be in the best interest of the County if both would resign in order to allow the people’s work to be conducted with unquestionable integrity."

From January 2010 to February 2015, Ed Mangano, Venditto and others received bribes and kickbacks from local businessman and restaurateur Harendra Singh in exchange for performing official actions that benefited Singh’s businesses within the Town of Oyster Bay and Nassau County, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says.

Singh was arrested last year in connection to a multi-million dollar fraud scheme and the alleged bribery of elected officials.

“Edward Mangano and John Venditto abused their positions as the highest ranking elected officials in Nassau County and the Town of Oyster Bay, respectively- at least, until today,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney said in a statement.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, these official actions included awarding Singh certain contracts and paying off his defaulted loans:

• The Town of Oyster Bay obtained four loans, totaling approximately $20 million, that two of Singh’s businesses received from a bank and from private corporate financing company, according to court documents. In November 2015, Singh defaulted on the repayment of two loans, which meant that the Town had to repay the outstanding money due under the loan documents.
• From late 2011 to December 2012, Ed Mangano used his authority to award two of Singh’s businesses lucrative contracts. One $200,000 contract was for Singh’s business to supply bread and rolls to the Nassau County Correctional Center and a $237,000 contract was signed for Singh to provide Nassau County Office of Emergency Management food services following Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

“Sadly, [Ed] Mangano also enlisted the assistance of his wife in an attempt to shield his wrongdoing from public scrutiny,” Capers said.

Linda Mangano was also allegedly a recipient of bribes and kickbacks, in which Singh provided her with a “no-show” job for three and a half years, from April 2010 to August 2014, at one of his restaurants where she was paid more than $450,000.

The Attorney’s Office says Singh paid for various hotel and travel expenses for the Mangano family, including vacations to:

• Niagara Falls in 2010
• Marco Island in Florida in December 2011
• St. Thomas in July 2012
• Turks and Caicos in July 2013
• Amelia Island in Florida in July 2010

Singh also bought the Manganos a $3,371 ergonomic office chair in January 2010, a $3,623.73 Brookstone massage chair, a $7,304 Panerai Luminor watch in November 2012 and $3,701.81 worth of hardwood flooring and its installation in the Manganos’ bedroom in January 2013, court documents say.

The Attorney’s Office says Singh provided Venditto, his family members and associates with free limo service, allowed him to hold fundraisers at his restaurants at a discounted rate and allowed him to use a conference room in the basement of one of his restaurants.

According to the U.S. Attorney, all three attempted to cover up their alleged wrongdoings. Linda Mangano and Venditto were also charged with making false statements to federal law enforcement authorities.

From January 2015 to present, the Manganos allegedly engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct a grand jury investigation. They repeatedly met with Singh to create fabricated stories to explain Linda Mangano’s employment at Singh’s restaurant as well as Singh’s gifts and vacation expenses to their family, according to the indictment.

FBI agents interviewed Linda Mangano at her home in January 2015 and returned for an interview with FBI and IRS agents and prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Central Islip on two occasions in May 2015. During the interviews, Linda fabricated examples of work she claimed to do for Singh, the indictment reports.

Venditto also met with prosecutors and FBI and IRS agents at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in October and December 2015. During the December interview, Venditto said he had not received anything of value from Singh, including the limousine services, according to the indictment. However, the U.S. Attorney says records from the limousine company, Singh’s bank records and witness interviews prove that Singh paid for the limousine service.

Ed Mangano and Venditto each face up to 20 years in prison for the honest services wire fraud charge and the conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud charge, up to 10 years for the federal program bribery charge and up to five years for the conspiracy to commit federal program bribery. Ed Mangano faces up to 20 years imprisonment for the extortion charge. Venditto and both of the Manganos face a prison term of up to 20 years each for the obstruction of justice charge and up to five years for each false statement charge.

When questioned outside his home by reporters Thursday morning, Ed Mangano said he would be holding a press conference later in the day to tell his side of the story. At the conference, Mangano said Singh is a 25-year long friend and the accusations are "ridiculous." He said he looks forward to telling his side of the story to the court.

Long Island Citizens for Good Government called on Mangano and Venditto to step down immediately. Dr. Dean Hart, the organization's executive director, said today is a "sad day for all of Long Island, but not a surprising one."

"The allegations of abuse of power and criminal conduct by Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto have been circulating for a long time, and today shows that they are real," Long Island Citizens for Good Government said in a statement. "Our organization feels that given the fiscal mess that Nassau County and Oyster Bay find themselves in, County Executive Edward Mangano and Town Supervisor John Venditto should resign immediately. Nassau County and Oyster Bay needs undivided attention and complete focus to address this very grave fiscal crisis, not politicians trying to cling to power."

Elaine Phillips, state Senate candidate and current mayor of the Village of Flower Hill, said in a statement that she has "zero tolerance" for corruption and also called on Mangano and Venditto to step down from their positions.

"These defendants are, of course, entitled to their day in court, but taxpayers and residents of Nassau County also have a right to know that their elected leaders are worthy of their trust, and that their first and only focus is on meeting the needs of our communities," Phillips said.

Nassau GOP candidates held a press conference Thursday afternoon and echoed the statement that Ed Mangano and Venditto should resign. Venditto's son, Sen. Michael Venditto, was not present at the conference, according to News12.

State Sen. Todd Kaminsky released the following statement: "The indictment against County Executive Mangano and Supervisor Venditto is deeply troubling and reminds us that no one is above the law. As a former federal corruption prosecutor, I've seen time and again how politicians abuse the public's trust for personal gain, and this case appears to be no different. Long Islanders deserve an ethical and clean government, and leaders they can trust. Unfortunately, this indictment has made it clear that that no longer exists in our County. County Executive Mangano and Supervisor Venditto must resign immediately so we can begin, once again, to attempt to restore the public's confidence in our local government."

Reclaim New York Executive Director Brandon Muir said in a statement that "corruption will continue until people stop waiting for politicians to police themselves."

“Citizens must reject secretive government and demand real transparency," Muir said. "Shady public officials need to know any and all attempts to abuse their power, and rip-off taxpayers, will be exposed to the light of day. Citizen-driven oversight is the only way to clean up our state, and restore public trust.”

Nassau County District Attorney Madeline requested for the "immediate action to drain this cesspool of corruption and restore confidence in the integrity of our government.” The DA said they are limiting comments on the officials due to the ongoing investigation and pending prosecution.

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Editor's Note: Patch originally reported that DA Singas requested for Mangano and Venditto to step down. A DA representative said their statement "called for reform and we limited comments because of the ongoing investigation and pending prosecution." The article has since been corrected.