NEW YORK – A federal indictment charging a Director of Bronx Shepherds Restoration Corporation (“Bronx Shepherds”), a New York State not-for-profit corporation, with Bribery was announced on Monday.  The Inspector General’s and U.S. Attorney’s Offices’ investigation revealed that a program director allegedly received thousands of dollars in home improvements from contractors who received from Bronx Shepherds weatherization assistance and home renovation contracts intended to assist low and middle-income residents that are federally funded through contracts with New York State.

Satnarine Seebachan, 50, of Glen Cove, surrendered to investigators from the New York State Inspector General’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and was arraigned in the United States District Court.  Seebachan was charged with one count of Bribery, for his alleged solicitation and acceptance of approximately $100,000 worth of labor and supplies from contractors with the intent to assist those contractors in obtaining contracts involving federal funds paid through contracts with New York State.  If convicted, Seebachan faces up to 10 years in prison.

“It is an outrage that a person placed in a position of trust in overseeing bids and awarding contracts that utilize funds designated to assist New Yorkers in need would take advantage of his position for personal gain,” said Acting Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott.  “My office is committed to ensuring that any person placed in a position of trust is held to the highest standards of integrity. New Yorkers must have confidence that processes are in place to prevent similar wrongdoing for recipients of specialized funding and services.”

Seebachan worked full-time as a program director at Bronx Shepherds, a not-for-profit corporation established to provide housing and housing restoration in the Bronx, New York.  Two of the programs administered by Bronx Shepherds, the Weatherization Assistance Program and the Home Program [“Programs”] are funded by the federal government through contracts with the New York State Homes and Community Renewal.  As a program director at Bronx Shepherds, Seebachan was in charge of the bidding selection process, choosing and paying construction companies that were to perform the necessary work on the buildings, apartments and houses funded by the Programs.