Rackets Bureau

The Rackets Bureau is staffed by approximately twenty ADAs, with a supporting staff of investigators and analysts. The Bureau conducts long term investigations into the corrupt activities of criminal enterprises. These investigations concentrate not only on specific crimes but also on the methods employed by criminal organizations to infiltrate legitimate businesses, enterprises, unions and governmental entities. By utilizing a structural approach and employing both traditional and modern investigative techniques, the Rackets Bureau has brought prosecutions against criminal enterprises in the following industries: garment, trucking, waste removal, construction, residential management, and a variety of labor unions that service those industries.

In many of these prosecutions, the defendants were charged with Enterprise Corruption, the New York State version of the federal "RICO" ("Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations") law. Such an approach allows the District Attorney to pursue civil remedies that complement criminal prosecutions, such as freezing the assets of a corrupt entity or compelling the entity to be placed in receivership. By enforcing the law and using the forfeiture remedies available in enterprise corruption and other prosecutions, the District Attorney is able to recoup for the state some of the millions of dollars lost through fraud and corruption. More importantly, these prosecutions have brought much needed reform within these industries.