Eleven Con Edison supervisors were arrested Wednesday on charges that they demanded more than $1 million in kickbacks from a construction company on several jobs, including work in and around ground zero and in the cleanup that followed a Midtown steam pipe explosion in 2007.

The supervisors, 10 of them current employees and one recently retired, approved invoices for work that was unnecessary or was never performed, or guaranteed faster payment for work that was performed, in exchange for the kickbacks, federal prosecutors said. Besides money, some of the men demanded other payoffs, including tickets to a New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys football game, a BlackBerry Curve phone, a watch and sunglasses, prosecutors said.

The arrests were made after the president of the construction company wore a recording device that captured nine of the defendants demanding bribes of $1,000 to $5,000. Two retired Con Ed employees also wore recording devices. In all, 51 meetings in which the defendants received $80,000 in bribes were recorded. In one case, $500,000 was added to a contract for work that was never performed.

“These defendants used their positions at Con Ed to line their own pockets at the expense of utility customers and the residents of the New York City metropolitan area,” Benton J. Campbell, the United States attorney in Brooklyn, said in a statement.

The Con Edison supervisors work at offices in Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Westchester County. If convicted, each defendant could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The president of the construction company cooperated with federal prosecutors after he was arrested in September. Prosecutors did not disclose the company’s name, the president’s name or why he was arrested. His company performed gas line and electrical work for Con Edison on construction projects in New York City and Westchester County.

Prosecutors said kickbacks occurred on 11 projects, including one in and around the World Trade Center site; another at 41st Street and Lexington Avenue, where a steam pipe was being repaired after it exploded in 2007; and another in a park near Yankee Stadium in the Bronx where a water main was being installed.

The defendants are two construction managers, Rocco Fassacesia and Paul Sanabria; five senior specialists, Abraham Panagi, Kevin Cook, James Coffin, Richard Giannetto and Anthony Villano; three chief construction inspectors, Richard Zebler, Leonard Diroma and Brendan Maher; and Thomas Fetter, a recently retired construction representative.

Mr. Fassacesia, who received four tickets to the Nov. 2 Giants-Cowboys game, appeared in court wearing a New York Giants jacket. Mr. Villano was the only defendant to speak at the arraignment. One prosecutor told the judge, Robert M. Levy, that when police officers arrived at Mr. Villano’s home on Wednesday, he had a “cocked handgun next to him at the door.” The police searched his home and found four handguns, a shotgun and a rifle. Prosecutors asked that Mr. Villano be compelled to surrender the weapons. The judge agreed.

Mr. Villano then said: “The gun was not cocked. It was loaded, but not cocked.” His lawyer added that before the police identified themselves, Mr. Villano thought his home was being invaded.

None of the defendants entered a plea, and each was released on $100,000 bond. In a statement, Con Edison said: “We are fully cooperating with the authorities. The company takes these allegations seriously and sets high standards for its employees.”

Assemblyman Michael N. Gianaris, a Democrat from Queens, said he was “disappointed, but hardly surprised” at the arrests.

“While most Con Edison employees are hard-working, honest individuals, those who are not are thriving in the sprawling, unaccountable monopoly that is Con Edison.”

(Source: NY Times)