An officer of the NYPD allegedly planned to frame another officer for rape in an attempt to cover up the 2015 karaoke bar bribery scandal, according to a police sergeant.
Whistleblower, Sgt Steven Lee, claims that at least 100 cops were involved in the Queens nightclub corruption, according to the New York Post.
But only two officers were arrested during the probe. Lt Robert Sung and Det Yatyu Yam were both accused of taking payments in exchange for advance warning to karaoke club owners in Flushing, Queens, about police raids.
Whistleblower, Sgt Steven Lee (left), has claimed that Lt Robert Sung (right) allegedly planned to frame a commanding officer for rape in an attempt to cover up the 2015 karaoke bar bribery scandal in Queens
At the time, they were suspended but eventually reinstated to the force.
According to the Post, Lee, who plans to sue the city for $35 million, was an undercover officer in the Internal Affairs probe at the time.
In his notice of claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, Lee alleges that Sung told him that he planned to frame Thomas Conforti, the commanding officer of the 109th Precinct, as a favor to club owner, Jimmy Li.
Li is the owner of two clubs in Queens, the JJNY Cafe on Northern Boulevard and CEO KTV & Cafe on College Point Boulevard. Li reportedly paid cops tens of thousands in bribes to protect his clubs.
According to the Post, Lee claims that Sung planned to falsely accuse Conforti of raping a female escort in one of the karaoke clubs in an attempt to protect the bribe racket from scrutiny.
Lee told the newspaper that he and Sung were at a pizzeria when Sung told him all about the plan to get the escort to allege that Conforti had raped her.
In his notice of claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, Lee alleges that Sung told him that he planned to frame Thomas Conforti, the commanding officer of the 109th Precinct, as a favor to club owner, Jimmy Li. Li owns the JJNY Cafe in Queens (pictured)
Sgt Lee said he reported that conversation to superiors but they did nothing.
After Sung and Yam were arrested, Li showed made an appearance at then-Police Commissioner Bill Bratton’s holiday party.
‘He was telling people he was friends with the PC,’ Lee told the Post.
When Lee questioned the integrity of the investigation, he alleged that Bratton subjected him to internal investigations and barred him from promotions.
Lee’s attorney, Eric Sanders, told the Post that ‘the whole internal investigation process is a big joke’.