Contractor tried to bribe inspector

From the Queens Chronicle:

A Queens contractor tried to pay a building inspector $500 to remove a stop work order on a construction project in Ozone Park, the city Department of Investigation alleges.

Lutchman Sookdeo, 25, was arrested Feb. 2 and charged with third-degree bribery, a class D felony punishable by up to seven years in prison, the DOI reported.

Sookdeo was doing construction work without a permit on Oct. 9 at 114-08 Sutter Ave. when the inspector issued a violation and stop work order, according to investigators.

“Sookdeo, a private contractor, told the inspector that he could not have the job stopped and paid $500 to the inspector in exchange for the inspector’s telling Sookdeo that he could remove the stop work sticker from a window,” the DOI said in a statement.

But the inspector was not sincere in accepting the bribe, and investigators were watching, the agency said.