A police officer stands guard outside One Police Plaza NYPD Headquarters on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in New York.
Federal investigators seized phones last week from all three brothers and at least three other top city officials, including Police Commissioner Edward Caban, who resigned Thursday. All three Banks brothers have denied wrongdoing. David and Terence Banks have said they don't believe they are the target of the investigation. But government watchdogs say the family's overlapping work in the private and public sector may have run afoul of conflict of interest guardrails as well as city and state laws on procurement lobbying.
City ethics rules ban relatives from lobbying each other. At minimum, David Banks would be required to secure a waiver from the city's Conflicts of Interest Board before meeting with a company represented by his brother, according to John Kaehny, the executive director of the good-government group Reinvent Albany.
The Utah-based company trains teachers and provides curriculums focused on artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation. Another listed client, SaferWatch, sells panic buttons to schools and police departments. Since August of 2023, it has been awarded more than $67,000 in city contracts, according to city records.
Ray Martin, the city official who was said to have pressured a bar owner to hire James Caban, was "terminated for cause" Thursday after the mayor's office learned of the allegations, according to Fabien Levy, the deputy mayor for communications.