Paladino files complaint alleging conspiracy in Buffalo schoolsCarl P. Paladino alleges in a complaint to the U.S. Attorney's Office that several Buffalo Public Schools officials, the teachers union president and a School Board member are involved in a conspiracy to benefit from school district business.
"The black and union cabal controls purchasing, contracting, teachers and administrative assignments, appointments, etc., smothering and hindering the district's ability to teach but nevertheless spending $25,400 per student," Paladino wrote to U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr.
Č A "pay to play" scheme paved the way for exclusive contracts for vendors who gave money to the district's nonprofit foundation, whose income and expenditures are not subject to public-disclosure laws.
Č The board provided "an illegal gift of public funds" to Deputy Superintendent Folasade Oladele, who received a $215,000 buyout in June as part of a separation agreement, which is about four times more than her contract stipulated.
Č Rumore heavily influences board elections and deliberations over key issues, compromising the board's objectivity regarding negotiations with the union.
Paladino alleges that school district officials have violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, a federal law crafted four decades ago to prosecute organized crime. The applications of that law have expanded over the years, such as to prosecute companies for price-fixing, experts say, but Paladino's attempted use of it is rather unusual.
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