Oops!
The feds asked for permission to reopen their case alleging corruption in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s ”Buffalo Billion” program Thursday after prosecutors realized they had failed to prove a key point: That the alleged fraud took place in Manhattan, where the case is being tried.
“What we are going to ask your honor is actually to reopen our case on this,” prosecutor Matthew Podolsky said hours after the government had rested its case on Thursday.
Podolsky made the request after prosecutors realized that they had failed to prove that emails alleging a bid-rigging scheme had been sent from NYC, which is vital to bringing the case in Manhattan federal court.
The judge called it a “fatal” problem before agreeing to give them another chance.
“The public has an interest in having the jury decide this question,” Judge Valerie Caproni said of the case, which accuses four men of rigging multimillion dollar state contracts as part of the governor’s program to revitalize upstate New York.
They return to court on Monday.
