# Ex-building inspector gets jail time for extortion scheme



## mark handler (Feb 1, 2018)

Ex-building inspector gets jail time for extortion scheme
https://www.brooklyneagle.com/artic...ing-inspector-gets-jail-time-extortion-scheme
A former inspector for the New York City Buildings Department was sentenced at Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday to a year and a half in prison for running an extortion scheme.

Massimo Dabusco, 55, previously pleaded guilty last May to conspiracy to commit extortion after he dished out fake stop work orders to contractors and then rerouted them to his company to fix their “violations.”

The scheme that centered around A&G Contracting Group, to which he was a silent owner, operated from December 2013 to June 2015, court documents show.

In addition to the referrals, Dabusco admitted he would threaten contractors and introduce them to a co-defendant to do clean-up work. In one instance, Dabusco told a construction manager to relay a message to the contractor.

“Tell him he’s gotta straighten this s—t out or else God help me, I will come to Flushing. He’ll never work in Flushing. I’ll shut down every job he’s got,” Dabusco said, according to court documents.

Judge Dora Irizarry also sentenced Dabusco to three years’ supervised release and a $4,000 fine.

“By engaging in extortionate conduct for personal financial gain, Dabusco violated the mission entrusted to him to enforce the New York City building and construction codes honestly and fairly,” said U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue in a statement. “This office and our law enforcement partners will remain vigilant in rooting out corruption and prosecuting those, like Dabusco, who abuse their position of public trust.”

Dabusco resigned from the Buildings Department in August 2015 after working in the agency for roughly two years.


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## JPohling (Feb 1, 2018)

$4000 fine?  what about the illicit profits from the scheme?  he gets to keep those?


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## ICE (Feb 1, 2018)

The building dept probably has an entire grave yard of skeletons that they want kept in a closet.  I am surprised that Dabusco didn't have a get out of jail free card to play.

He sound like a bit of a dolt with threats to shut down all of their jobs.  Odds are the folks at work didn't like him either.


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