Top school investigators hoarded nearly 6,000 rounds of live ammunition and distributed the bullets amongst themselves to cover it up, a bombshell lawsuit claims.
The Special Commissioner of Investigation’s office, which independently probes allegations made against the city Department of Education and its employees, is accused of stockpiling over 5,700 rounds of ammunition without a permit in a wooden cabinet at its Manhattan headquarters.
The Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit accuses SCI Commissioner Anastasia Coleman as well as the city’s Law Department, Conflict of Interest Board and Department of Investigation of ignoring evidence of wrongdoing and sweeping corruption under the rug.
SCI viciously axed, suspended or forced out the whistleblowers who exposed the wrongdoing, they claim in the lawsuit.
Former SCI tech investigator Roberto El Lakkis and SCI computer systems manager Richard Marin filed the Article 78 lawsuit to ask the court to force the agencies to address the widespread corruption.
El Lakkis first raised the ammo issue to higher-ups at the agency in April 2023, saying bullets were improperly stored in an unlocked cabinet in a room without a fire extinguisher that also stored batteries, posing a serious fire hazard, according to the lawsuit, first reported on by Susan Edelman on Substack.
The building that houses SCI’s office in the Financial District is also home to the private K-12 Quad Preparatory School.
SCI agents do not make arrests and are not authorized to carry guns for the purposes of their jobs, save for a few peace officers with the agency. Other agents are former NYPD officers and are permitted to carry their personal firearms, for which they are responsible.
Only three peace officers were working for the agency at the time, Marin told The Post.
New York City’s fire code requires a permit for the storage of more than 200 rounds. SCI did not have a permit to store the ammunition, per the lawsuit.
After his concerns went unanswered, El Lakkis lodged a complaint in November 2023 with the FDNY and the city Law Department.
Inspectors were unable to access the cabinet in question during a subsequent visit and were told only 90 rounds, at most, were stored in the office.
It appears SCI then went into cover-up mode.
Damning emails attached to the lawsuit showed that SCI Gun Custodian Joseph Piwowarski distributed 114 boxes containing 5,700 rounds of ammunition to nine investigators at the agency.
Video footage submitted as evidence shows Piwowarski leaving the tech room with armloads of alleged ammo stored in a brown folder. Other videos show him handing a folder to an SCI agent wearing a green trench coat and carrying a brown leather briefcase elsewhere in the office.
Piwowarski sent detailed accounting of the number of bullet boxes and what make each agent received to SCI Deputy Commissioner Daniel Schlachet and Chief Investigator Mike Bisogna, according to emails submitted to the court.
Photos from inside the ammo cabinet obtained by The Post show .9mm and .38 caliber rounds from brands such as American Eagle and PMC Bronze.
SCI First Deputy Commissioner Daniel Schlachet told investigators the bullets were stored for peace officers who work at SCI to complete their yearly state-mandated firearms training and taht the agency would no longer continue to purchase ammo.
The plaintiffs alleged that the agents were given the ammunition to bring home so that FDNY investigators wouldn’t find out they had been misled.
“You have liars working on investigations. The law department has all of this information and they still let them investigate wrongdoing in city schools,” Marin told The Post.
The plaintiffs faced retaliation by SCI, they claim in the court docs.
El Lakkis claimed he was fired as a result of speaking up, and Marin said he has been placed on suspension for reporting the ammo stash and other SCI misdeeds.
Ralph Gerard, a former vehicle fleet manager and witness in the case, also said he was forced out of his job for speaking up about SCI agents using city-provided EZ-Pass for personal use.
“If you’re not in their clique, they dismiss and ignore you, and if you speak up they retaliate against you, it’s a toxic place,” Gerard said.
The Law Department wound up clearing the agency in its investigation, but the trio’s lawyers alleged in their lawsuit the investigation was rigged.
An SCI spokesperson said the agency does not comment on active litigation.
Bisogna, Piwowarski and Anderson could not be reached for comment.
“The hoarding and distribution of ammunition by high-level officials within SCI and the cover-up that ensued were egregious violations of public trust,” plaintiff lawyer Michael Musa-Obregon said.
