KIDS ENDANGERED: Amazing Land in Brooklyn was among the centers shut down amid the bribery probe. (Kendall Rodriguez)
A high-ranking FDNY safety inspector ignored safety violations at buildings housing day-care centers in exchange for bribes, the feds said yesterday.
Carlos Montoya — who formerly oversaw inspections of all city day-care centers — was arrested yesterday for the alleged misconduct, which included repeatedly certifying use of a Brooklyn warehouse for the temporary care of infants and children younger than 2.
He allegedly got at least $12,000 in payments from the center’s owner, who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and is cooperating with the feds.
But Montoya, 54, failed to fully cover his tracks, and issued the bogus certificates with “basic errors that one would not expect to see,” such as misspelling the word “nursery,” court papers charge.
Montoya — who was bounced from his post after the city Department of Investigation uncovered the scam — also allegedly got paid $250 a pop to sign off on safety inspections at another center.
But that center’s owner, who also pleaded guilty and is cooperating with authorities, “does not recall Montoya ever in fact performing an inspection,” according to a complaint in Manhattan federal court.
The complaint charges that the second owner paid Montoya about $15,000 to help secure a special “certificate of occupancy” so the center could charge extra for children under 2.
Montoya allegedly confessed to taking $2,000 “on one occasion . . . to overlook the fact that there was no certificate of occupancy in place” for the Brooklyn warehouse.
The allegations against Montoya stem from a 2010 probe called “Operation Pay Care,” which targeted more than 35 day-care centers in Brooklyn and Staten Island run by a ring of Russian immigrants who called themselves “The Congregation.”
DOI investigators estimate that members of The Congregation collected more than $18 million between 2008 and 2010, of which more than $1 million was for the care of “phantom children.”
Five city workers and eight day-care operators — including the two cooperators — have already pleaded guilty in the case.
After a brief court appearance, Montoya was released on $100,000 bond and ordered to surrender his US and Colombian passports and those of his two kids, ages 12 and 14.
Montoya declined comment as he left the courthouse, but defense lawyer Oliver Storch said: “My client has served the city for over 20 years with distinction and has an unblemished record.”
“He’s both shocked and saddened by the allegations,” Storch added.