Three top LPCiminelli executives in connection with corruption charges related to the Buffalo Billion scandal have stepped down from the construction firm.
Louis Ciminelli, the CEO of the company, and two of his top aides, Kevin Schuler and Michael Laipple, have resigned to help rebuild the public's confidence in the firm.
The company is now being lead by the company's president and Louis Ciminelli's son, Frank Ciminelli II.
The three resignations will not have much of an impact on the company, according to Frank Ciminelli II.
Louis Ciminelli has further distanced himself from the company by placing the shares he owns in LPCiminelli in a family trust. That move will reduce the direct influence that Louis Ciminelli has over the company's operations, since the trust - and not Louis Ciminelli - will control the voting rights that accompany those shares.
The transfer leaves Frank Ciminelli II, Louis' son and the company's president, and the family trust as LPCiminelli's main shareholders.
The company has hired a former FBI Special Agent in Buffalo, Paul Moskal, to conduct risk assessment. Moskal will also lead all 200 employees in compliance and ethics training programs.
"As we navigate this transition, I am committed to ensuring that our company's 56-year record of integrity and excellence continues into the next generation," said Frank Ciminelli. "We are taking several steps to reinforce LPCiminelli's strong reputation for integrity and ingenuity. I am confident that we will meet these challenges by expanding on our award-winning results, investing in the Western New York workforce and community and by building upon the trust and confidence we have established over our 56-year history."
Louis Ciminelli, Schuler and Laipple currently face wire fraud conspiracy and bribery charges for allegedly conspiring to rig the bidding process for state contracting jobs worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The the alleged rigging plan reaches people close to Governor Andrew Cuomo.
All three say they have done nothing wrong.
