What is it about day care centers that seems to bring out the worst in New Yorkers? 54-year-old supervising FDNY safety inspector Carlos Montoya was arrested on Friday for accepting tens of thousands of dollars worth of bribes from day care centers. According to Manhattan's U.S. attorney Preet Bharara [pdf], Montoya, who has been a safety inspector since 1993, "was responsible for certifying that day care centers throughout the city complied with fire safety standards," but "allegedly solicited bribes to look the other way, potentially compromising the safety of the children who attended these centers.” According to the Times, Montoya has been released on $100,000 bond.
Montoya's arrest is part of a larger initiative dubbed "Operation Pay Care" [pdf] by the city's Department of Investigation that has rooted out $1 million in fraud and bribes at the city's day care centers, run by Russian-speaking immigrants who called themselves the "Congregation." Five city employees and eight day care operators have pled guilty so far, and two of the day care employees implicated Montoya in the crimes.
Since at least 2008, Montoya allegedly took a bribe of $3,000 every three months from Brooklyn's Pitkin Day Care Center to provide them with the necessary documents to care for infants, despite the center lacking a license to do so. He also allegedly told other day care centers that he could "get any day care center" certified to care for infants for $10,000. Centers that care for infants are reimbursed by the city at a high rate for their services.
Another member of the "Congregation" who owned a day care center and became a government informant claims that he paid Montoya $250 each time his facility was to be inspected, but that no inspection ever occurred.
Montoya's attorney told reporters that his client was "shocked and saddened by the allegations," and that his client "has served the city for over 20 years with distinction."
