A New Jersey company is allegedly involved in a $637 million pay-to-play scheme involving Governor Ho-Chol and is now suing her administration.
Dayton, N.J.-based Digital Gadgets said last spring it negotiated a deal for rapid COVID-19 testing before the Department of Health opened its bids to other companies unable to offer the same quality of goods. They allege they have violated their own contract rules.
“Digital Gadgets has filed this lawsuit to ensure consistent compliance with the rules established by the state along with the bidding process,” said company spokesperson John Gallagher, according to Albany County’s state chief. told The Post after the lawsuit was filed in court.
State officials failed to get concessions for digital gadgets to offer faster tests after providing millions of tests between December 2021 and March of this year, according to the lawsuit. Blocked repeated requests for an explanation of why. .
The company also claims the state tweaked its bidding requirements to benefit other companies.
“The DOH will allow Digital Gadgets’ ability to prove that the winning bidder did not meet the specifications issued by the department and that it was the only bidder who met what was asked in the invitation to bid.” It’s blocked,” Gallagher said.
“Digital Gadgets is going through the same redemption process that demotes other bidders.”
He declined to comment Thursday on the pending lawsuit, first reported by WSKG radio in Binghamton.
According to the lawsuit, Digital Gadgets wants the court to declare that the state has violated its own rules and to award court costs and “further relief that the court deems just and appropriate.”
The lawsuit is ironic for Hochul, which made $637 million in no-bid business after suspending normal contracting rules in late 2021 and declaring a state of emergency as COVID-19 cases surged. shows the development.
Meanwhile, company founder Charlie Tebere and his family spent about $300,000 on Hochul’s reelection campaign, and digital gadgets paid New York nearly twice as much as states like California for the same test. charged.
“This was a disastrous deal from the start. But even by Albany standards, it’s quite a twist. The Ho-Chol government is being sued by the same people who profited from the no-bid contract. It would be hilarious if I didn’t show how it didn’t work.
“Awarding a $637 million contract to major campaign donors is shouting ‘pay to play. It will be interesting to see.
The alleged pay-to-play scheme — Tebele and Hochul deny wrongdoing — was one of a series of donation controversies that weighed on Hochul’s campaign against Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Suffolk). A person who has been nominated by the Republican Party within the last 20 years.
‘We look forward to discovering this case,’ says Congressman and Congressman-elect The irony of Michael Lawler “Starting with the communication between digital gadgets and Hochul campaigns,” he said on Twitter Thursday.
