Former NYPD Official And Florida Businessman Charged With Bribery Offenses

An indictment has been unsealed charging former Commanding Officer of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) School Safety Division (“SSD”) KEVIN TAYLOR and Florida businessman GENO ROEFARO with bribery and related offenses. TAYLOR was arrested this morning and will be presented today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker. ROEFARO was also arrested this morning and was presented in the Southern District of Florida. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick. “The NYPD is the greatest police force in the world, including because it invests wisely and honestly in resources,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton. “The NYPD procurement process is not for sale. As alleged in the indictment, in 2023 and 2024, Kevin Taylor engaged in a corrupt relationship with Geno Roefaro—a Florida businessman who paid tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of bribes to Taylor—in exchange for Taylor agreeing to use his power and influence within the NYPD to enrich Roefaro’s company. As alleged, Taylor also used his influence within the NYPD to attempt to extort at least two other businessmen for payments. Corruption will not be tolerated from those, like Taylor, who are entrusted to keep New York City’s children and teachers safe.” As alleged in the Indictment:[1] From at least in or about July 2023 through in or about February 2024, TAYLOR repeatedly abused his authority and considerable influence as the Commanding Officer of the NYPD SSD by soliciting or demanding bribes in two corrupt schemes. First, TAYLOR solicited and received bribes from ROEFARO in exchange for promises by TAYLOR to advise and pressure others in the New York City government to award ROEFARO millions of dollars’ worth of contracts. At all relevant times, ROEFARO was the founder, majority owner, and chief executive officer of a company (“Company-1”) that markets and sells cellphone-based tipline applications to school districts and police departments. In or about summer 2022, ROEFARO began attempting to sell his products to the New York City government through seemingly legitimate means. When those legitimate efforts did not progress to ROEFARO’s liking, ROEFARO chose to bribe TAYLOR on multiple occasions to achieve the results he wanted. ROEFARO bribed TAYLOR with multiple cash payments and paid for TAYLOR’s vacations, entertainment experiences, and dining at high-end restaurants. In exchange, TAYLOR advised and pressured others, including other high-ranking officials at the NYPD and the City Council of New York, to procure goods and services from Company-1. Second, TAYLOR solicited and attempted to extort as much as $75,000 from two employees (“Individual-1” and “Individual-2,” respectively) of a second company (“Company-2”) that had contracted with the NYPD to outfit the SSD’s members with ballistic vests. TAYLOR sought these payments in exchange for TAYLOR’s official acts facilitating and not disrupting Company-2’s contract with the NYPD. TAYLOR also threatened economic harm against Company-2 as a means to obtain the payments. Specifically, in summer 2023, TAYLOR signed a contract with an event space (the “Event Space”) in Manhattan so that TAYLOR could host a holiday party for the SSD at the Event Space in December 2023. Through that contract, TAYLOR was personally liable to pay the Event Space more than $100,000 for the holiday party. In an attempt to satisfy that personal liability, TAYLOR repeatedly solicited payments from Individual-1 and Individual-2 in exchange for TAYLOR facilitating Company-2’s contract with the NYPD, and TAYLOR otherwise threatened Company-2 with economic harm to obtain those payments. Despite TAYLOR’s efforts, Individual-1 and Individual-2 never made the bribe payments solicited by TAYLOR.