Hudson County Man Indicted for Bribing Fire Officials to Clear $9 Million in Fire Code Fines

A Hudson County man was indicted today for paying thousands of dollars in bribes to a fire official to eliminate fines and penalties on buildings with nearly $9 million in fire code violations.

Victor Coca, 48, the owner of a general contracting company in West New York, NJ., was arrested on May 20 by FBI special agents, who charged Coca with paying bribes to the fire official for the West New York Bureau of Fire Prevention in NJ, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced today.

If convicted, Coca could serve ten years in prison and pay up to $250,000 in fines.

According to case documents and statements made in court, Coca tried to eliminate fines on two West New York buildings, with code violations totaling more than $8,700,000.

“For the first building, Coca paid a $2,000 cash bribe to the fire official to eliminate the outstanding $14,500 in fines,” U.S. Attorney Fishman stated. “For the second building, Coca wrote paid a $5,000 cash bribe to the fire official, in return for the fire official reducing the $8,730,000 in outstanding penalties, thus making the amount due to the West New York Bureau of Fire Prevention only the initial fine amount of $5,000.”

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited FBI special agents, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford, Newark with the investigation leading to today’s indictment.