Four bombshell lawsuits filed late Monday accuse Adams and his top NYPD allies of running a department full of corruption and retaliation, and substantiate rumors of multiple federal and local investigations into illegal behavior.
The suits come as Adams faces an uphill re-election campaign as an independent.
Former NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig’s lawsuit accuses former Commissioner Edward Caban sold promotions for up to $15,000, and is currently under a federal investigation for selling shields.
According to the suit, Caban “tired” of Essig challenging him and former Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey’s “unusual and non-customary promotion and transfer practices,” including “unvetted promotions” into the mega-sensitive Special Victims Unit, and told him to take a $50,000 pay cut — or resign.
In another suit, the second in command of Internal Affairs, Joseph Veneziano — a 30-year NYPD veteran — allegedly faced a similar ultimatum after looking into false overtime slips signed by a friend of Maddrey who worked in his office.
Veneziano’s suit notes that he cooperated with an investigation from the Brooklyn DA’s office — as he is required to as part of his job — but faced intense backlash from Maddrey.
At first, Veneziano claims, former NYPD commish Keechant Sewell “protected” him from “Maddrey’s retaliation.”
But just a month after Sewell resigned and was replaced by Adams pal Caban, he was given a demotion to the “inferior” Transit Bureau and resigned a month later.
The NYPD and city Law Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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