FBI DIGGING IN PATTERSON

The Courier has learned that last week the Federal Bureau of Investigation requested unknown documents from the Patterson Town Hall.

On Wednesday afternoon, David Raines, the fire code chief, confirmed to the Courier the veracity of some of the rumors of a federal investigation that had begun swirling through Putnam.

“I am confirming that a federal subpoena was served by the FBI out of its White Plains office last Wednesday questioning property records for a parcel in the town of Patterson,” Raines said.

Raines, who is part of the town’s building department, said that as he was out of town on business that day, he did not know which parcel was being questioned. The FBI reportedly
received the requested documents from the building department.

At the Patterson town board meeting Wednesday, resident Tom Conrad asked during the public comment period whether federal investigators had paid a visit to the town hall.

“Yes, sir,” said Supervisor Michael Griffin. “They subpoenaed the Building Department and the Records Department.”

Later on, another resident, “Are the subpoenas on file?”

“Not sure,” Griffin replied. The board members look around at each other and the town clerk and concluded that no one knew the subject of the subpoena.

“The must be in the building department,” Griffin said.

The subpoena in Patterson comes just weeks after subpoenas of the county government as part of a still unknown federal grand jury investigation. As was first reported in the June 3 Courier, according to an anonymous source close to the matter, a U.S. attorney had requested, and received, unredacted copies of invoices and vouchers “associated with Santangelo, Randazzo & Mangone as a [law] firm and as sole practitioners.”

At the time, Vincent Tamagna, chairman of the County Legislature, told the Courier that Putnam County had been subpoenaed to “produce certain specified records to the Grand Jury for the Southern District of New York” that included invoices and “how the county procured outside legal services.”

Additionally, there have been reports that the Carmel Town Hall was served with subpoenas in recent weeks. It is not known whether these three incidents are connected.