The Nassau District Attorney’s Office has launched an investigation following a town ethics board probe related to Oyster Bay Inspector General Brian Noone’s approval of a proposed $2 million cybersecurity contract for a vendor that records show is tied to his private business.
“We’re looking into the matter. Must otherwise decline comment,” Brendan Brosh, a spokesman for Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly, said in a statement Tuesday evening.
Town officials confirmed they have turned over materials to prosecutors.
“The town is already in communication with the district attorney’s office and has provided them with materials related to this matter. Supervisors [Joseph] Saladino has directed the town attorney to provide the district attorney with any information they need to review,” Oyster Bay spokesman Brian Nevin said Tuesday evening.
The statements followed Newsday’s inquiry about plans by a coalition of Democrats from Oyster Bay on Wednesday morning to call for the district attorney to investigate Noone’s approval of the proposed $2 million contract and what they say was a “failure” of the town’s ethics board “to uphold its duties and propose immediate actions.”
Noone has been relieved of his regular duties overseeing the town’s contracting since March 24, when the town attorney and town board referred questions to Oyster Bay’s ethics board about a possible conflict of interest between the inspector general and a town vendor, Newsday reported last week.
Noone continues to collect his $154,000 annual salary from the town while retired State Supreme Court Justice Angelo Delligatti is in charge of Noone’s contract-related duties while earning $75 an hour, according to town officials.
The town ethics board cleared No one of any potential conflicts of interest, board attorney Steven Leventhal said last week. Nevin said previously that Noone had not returned to his regular duties because officials were awaiting the town ethics board’s written decision on the matter.
Oyster Bay Democrats, including attorney Jared Behr, the party’s pick to challenge Republican Saladino as town supervisor in November, as well as some county legislators, are planning to send a letter Wednesday to Donnelly asking for an investigation. They are also planning to propose ethics reforms for the town.
“We demand that all allegations and potential misconduct within the town administration be meticulously examined to ensure full accountability and maintain the public’s unwavering confidence in the local government,” Behr said in a statement to Newsday.
Noone came under scrutiny after signing off on the $2 million contract proposal for cybersecurity with a New Jersey-based company called Enterprise Security Solutions — a measure town legislators tabled on March 21.
The company’s owner, Michael Esposito, was listed on the website of Noone’s private company, Nova Venture Partners, as its cybersecurity practice leader. Esposito’s company had an existing $15,000 contract with the town that officials terminated on March 28, citing an alleged breach of confidentiality.
Since his appointment in January 2019, Noone has evaluated town vendors and contracts before they are approved by the town board.
During the 2017 election, Democrats pushed for the creation of an inspector general in the wake of a bribery scandal connected to former town concessionaire Harendra Singh that rocked the town and sent former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and his wife, Linda, to prison.
Saladino and the Republican town board beat the Democrats to the punch, holding a hearing weeks before the election on the local law to create the position.
The town board created the position in January 2018, and Noone became the first person to hold the office when he was appointed a year later.
The Nassau District Attorney’s Office has launched an investigation following a town ethics board probe related to Oyster Bay Inspector General Brian Noone’s approval of a proposed $2 million cybersecurity contract for a vendor that records show is tied to his private business.
“We’re looking into the matter. Must otherwise decline comment,” Brendan Brosh, a spokesman for Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly, said in a statement Tuesday evening.
Town officials confirmed they have turned over materials to prosecutors.
“The town is already in communication with the district attorney’s office and has provided them with materials related to this matter. Supervisors [Joseph] Saladino has directed the town attorney to provide the district attorney with any information they need to review,” Oyster Bay spokesman Brian Nevin said Tuesday evening.
The statements followed Newsday’s inquiry about plans by a coalition of Democrats from Oyster Bay on Wednesday morning to call for the district attorney to investigate Noone’s approval of the proposed $2 million contract and what they say was a “failure” of the town’s ethics board “to uphold its duties and propose immediate actions.”
Noone has been relieved of his regular duties overseeing the town’s contracting since March 24, when the town attorney and town board referred questions to Oyster Bay’s ethics board about a possible conflict of interest between the inspector general and a town vendor, Newsday reported last week.
Noone continues to collect his $154,000 annual salary from the town while retired State Supreme Court Justice Angelo Delligatti is in charge of Noone’s contract-related duties while earning $75 an hour, according to town officials.
The town ethics board cleared No one of any potential conflicts of interest, board attorney Steven Leventhal said last week. Nevin said previously that Noone had not returned to his regular duties because officials were awaiting the town ethics board’s written decision on the matter.
Oyster Bay Democrats, including attorney Jared Behr, the party’s pick to challenge Republican Saladino as town supervisor in November, as well as some county legislators, are planning to send a letter Wednesday to Donnelly asking for an investigation. They are also planning to propose ethics reforms for the town.
“We demand that all allegations and potential misconduct within the town administration be meticulously examined to ensure full accountability and maintain the public’s unwavering confidence in the local government,” Behr said in a statement to Newsday.
Noone came under scrutiny after signing off on the $2 million contract proposal for cybersecurity with a New Jersey-based company called Enterprise Security Solutions — a measure town legislators tabled on March 21.
The company’s owner, Michael Esposito, was listed on the website of Noone’s private company, Nova Venture Partners, as its cybersecurity practice leader. Esposito’s company had an existing $15,000 contract with the town that officials terminated on March 28, citing an alleged breach of confidentiality.
Since his appointment in January 2019, Noone has evaluated town vendors and contracts before they are approved by the town board.
During the 2017 election, Democrats pushed for the creation of an inspector general in the wake of a bribery scandal connected to former town concessionaire Harendra Singh that rocked the town and sent former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and his wife, Linda, to prison.
Saladino and the Republican town board beat the Democrats to the punch, holding a hearing weeks before the election on the local law to create the position.
The town board created the position in January 2018, and Noone became the first person to hold the office when he was appointed a year later.