A criminal investigation into the former New York City Department of Buildings Commissioner has reached its final stages, and an indictment is expected as early as this week, according to three people familiar with the investigation.
The commissioner, Eric Ulrich, resigned in November shortly after detectives from the Manhattan district attorney’s office seized his cell phone and questioned him the next day. The investigation continued after his resignation, with prosecutors focusing on bribery-related crimes that occurred while Mr. Ulrich was still in office.
As part of the investigation, prosecutors investigated whether he rented an apartment at a price lower than the market, the people in the know said, as well as a couch given to him or discounted by someone who had business before the department.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office declined to comment. An attorney for Mr. Ulrich, Samuel M. Braverman, said he would not comment until he knew what the charges contained.
“Anything anyone says is just a guess, and probably baseless, so I’m waiting for the charges,” said Mr. Braverman, who practices white-collar defense at the Anderson Kill law firm.
The progress of the investigation was first reported by The Daily News.
The investigation into 38-year-old Mr. Ulrich is the latest blot on a department long plagued by corruption scandals. The agency inspects all New York City buildings to ensure they adhere to regulations and codes, and reviews and approves plans for new developments.
In the 1960s, Mayor John V. Lindsay’s Commissioner of Buildings was so frustrated with allegations of corruption and bribery that he suggested that the inspectors be given pocketless uniforms.
Mr. Ulrich was appointed by Mayor Eric Adams to head the department in May 2022, despite his admitted alcohol and gambling addiction and a letter he wrote four years earlier on behalf of a voter with mob ties. It was initially believed that prosecutors working for District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg were investigating Mr. Ulrich’s possible links to gambling and organized crime, and it is unclear when they began focusing on possible bribery.
When Mr Ulrich stepped down last year, the mayor declined to comment on the investigation.
Mr Adams said he respected the decision and wished Mr Ulrich and his family well, but had no comment on the investigation.
In a January Facebook post, Mr. Ulrich announced that he had recently become a licensed insurance broker.
Susan C. Beachy contributed research.
