I-Team 10 Investigation: Town of Greece at center of FBI investigation

Posted at: 09/04/2012 5:40 PM | Updated at: 09/05/2012 6:50 AM
By: Brett Davidsen | WHEC.com

I-Team 10 has been learning more about an apparent FBI investigation into Greece town government.

An FBI investigation of the Town of Greece has been going on for several months, but it was at a Board of Zoning Appeals meeting on August 21st when it came up publicly for the first time.

Rick Antelli, who is a county legislator, was in front of the Zoning Board trying to get a variance on a commercial property he owns.

It's at that time that he asked the board to keep much of his information private and revealed that he is a federal witness in an investigation into the town.

I-Team 10 has obtained the audio recording from that meeting:
Rick Antelli: "A lot of that information should stay right within this board because there is an FBI investigation going on about that, so I really can't elaborate on that anymore."
Question: "I'm sorry, I missed that part. What was that? In regards to what?"
Rick Antelli: "Well, I'd rather not say, but there was a lot of resistance I received from the Town of Greece in the past seven years with evidence I brought with the leases to the town and politically, so people stopped it. And there's an investigation going on. I'm a federal witness. So make sure you mark that down."

The FBI is not saying what it is looking at, and reached today by phone, Antelli declined to comment.

Several sources with knowledge of the inquiry tell I-Team 10 that part of it involves trying to run down rumors of a 2003 traffic accident involving a former town employee, who is also a relative of a local politician.

I-Team 10 was first contacted about the supposed crash more than two years ago, but has been unable to document that an accident or cover-up occurred. Whether federal investigators have been able to turn up proof is not clear.

The town of Greece has been trying for more than three years to turn the page on a series of scandals involving several police officers including cover-up crimes by former chief Meritt Rahn.

Current police chief Todd Baxter issued a statement saying, "The Greece Police will always assist and cooperate in any investigation. I will also state that the Greece Police Department, specifically, is not under federal investigation."

I-Team 10 tried to get in touch with Greece Town Supervisor John Auburger Tuesday, but was told that he is out of the office this week.

In speaking with several sources with knowledge of the investigation, it sounds like there are a few areas the feds are inquiring about. It may be that they are trying to put to rest a number of rumors that came out of the recent scandals. Whether it will result in any action is yet to be seen.
 

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