Eight former and current federal produce inspectors at the Hunts Point Terminal Market were busted yesterday for allegedly cheating small farmers around the country out of millions of dollars.
“Unfortunately, this case is a case where a few bad apples can spoil the whole barrel,” FBI Assistant Director Lewis Schiliro said of the long-running bribery ring at the Bronx terminal, the largest fruit and vegetable wholesale market in the country.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors were among 21 people hit with bribery and racketeering charges after an almost three-year probe code-named “Operation Forbidden Fruit.”
Court papers charge that the inspectors were routinely paid off by wholesalers for more than two decades to make findings that the fruit and vegetables they were receiving from farmers weren’t up to the quality promised in contracts.
That allowed the wholesalers to pay the farmers less – sometimes saving them thousands of dollars per shipment.
“The benefits to the wholesalers were obvious. They were routinely getting Grade A produce at Grade B prices … It’s fair to assume they didn’t pass the savings on to the consumer,” Schiliro said.
The bribes were usually only about $50 each – but the practice was so rampant, some of the inspectors pulled in over $100,000 a year in payoffs, authorities said.
“As a matter of routine, year after year, day after day, they corrupted the system,” said U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White.
The inspectors, who investigators said coordinated and cooperated with each other, face up to 20 years in prison.
Thirteen owners and employees of Hunts Point wholesale companies were also busted for their role in the scheme.
They face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Investigators said that even though the scam has been going on since 1980, they started receiving complaints from victims only about three years ago.
They said they were assisted in the investigation by other USDA inspectors not involved in the scam.
About 14 inspectors are on duty at the market at any one time, and they’re paid between $38,000 and $48,000 a year, officials said.
USDA Inspector General Roger Viadero called the rip-off ring “villainous.”
“They preyed upon those who can afford it least – our country’s small farmers and producers, who have for years been fighting against acts of nature,” he said.
He added that his agency would try to get restitution for the countless victims “coast to coast, border to border.”
“This is real money to real people,” he said. “The small farmer and small producer got cheated.”