A former Oyster Bay inspector general who resigned due to allegations he attempted to funnel $2 million to his own company will not face any criminal charges after a lengthy investigation, prosecutors said.
Brian Noone has been under investigation by the Nassau County District Attorney’s office for months — but the DA announced Tuesday that it dropped the probe for lack of evidence.
“After a lengthy and thorough investigation of the allegations, NCDA determined that there was insufficient evidence to support criminal charges in this matter,” Nicole Turso, a spokesperson for the DA’s office told The Post.
Noone, who was appointed as the community’s first inspector general in 2019, was in charge of the town’s contracting process for roughly four years.
In June 2023, he resigned over allegations that his private business had ties to a vendor he was urging the town to sign a multi-million dollar cybersecurity contract with.
Once these ties were uncovered, officials raised alarms over their concerns about possible corruption and a potential conflict of interest.
Noone was immediately removed from his contract oversight duties, but a review by the town’s ethics board eventually cleared him of any wrongdoing, before the DA stepped in.
After Noone’s resignation, former state Supreme Court Justice Angelo Delligatti was hired to handle the contract vetting but more recently, a team of town attorneys were running the show.
However, critics including Democrats and lawyers, raised concerns with the approach of letting the municipality’s own attorneys fulfill the duties of the inspector general.
They argue that the job should be filled by someone who is independent from the administration to prevent any potential future corruption or conflicts of interest.
Now, officials like Republican and Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino, say they are now committed to filling the role of inspector general permanently.
In an attempt to attract a larger pool of candidates, Saladino eliminated a requirement that the official must have three years of experience “as a supervisor of high-level public or quasi-public sector staff” and is implementing operational changes to how the role is approached.
“We expanded the role and clarified the investigative powers, and now we broadened the investigative requirements to attract a larger pool of candidates,” Saladino said.
Oyster Bay is now attempting to recoup from yet another political scandal. In recent years, the community has been plagued with several other controversies — including the conviction of former Supervisor John Venditto on corruption charges in 2019.
Former planning and development commissioner, Frederick Ippolito, also found himself in hot water when he pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 2016 over consulting fees he accepted while working for the local government.
