WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th May, 2021) US authorities arrested three police officers in New York City for receiving payments from a tow-truck firm in exchange for referrals of accident victims, Justice Department said on Thursday.
"A nine-count indictment was unsealed today in Federal court in Brooklyn charging Heather Busch, Robert Hassett, and Robert Smith with five counts of using interstate facilities to commit bribery and two counts of conspiracy," the Justice Department said in a press release.
Smith, who recently retired, is also charged with attempting to transport at least one kilogram of heroin, the release said.
The defendants were arrested Tuesday morning and scheduled for arraignment before US Chief Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak in the afternoon, the release added.
Beginning in September 2016, Smith and Hassett bypassed a police system that randomly picks licensed towing companies and directed accident victims to an single company in exchange for thousands of Dollars in cash bribe payments. In March 2020 and just prior to his retirement, Smith recruited Busch to participate in the towing scheme, according to the release.
In July 2020, the then-retired Smith accepted a bag from one individual containing what Smith understood to be a kilogram of heroin, which he subsequently delivered to a second individual in exchange for $1,200 in cash, the release said.
Smith and Hassett are also accused of selling Names of accident victims gleaned from a police data base to an individual who claimed to represent physical therapists and personal injury lawyers, the release said.
