Officials question Oyster Bay loan repayment

Concerns are growing among officials about how the Town of Oyster Bay is going to pay back $20 million in guaranteed loans after the indictment of a politically connected Nassau County businessman.

News 12 Staff

Mar 16, 2016, 2:58 AM

Updated 3,107 days ago

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Concerns are growing among officials about how the Town of Oyster Bay is going to pay back $20 million in guaranteed loans after the indictment of a politically connected Nassau County businessman.
Harendra Singh is accused of bribing a now-fired Oyster Bay town official. Prosecutors say the bribe was in exchange for the town agreeing to guarantee a private loan Singh obtained for his restaurant business.
Critics say the town is not only at risk for the loan payments, but that it has also had to foot huge legal bills.
At a recent town board meeting, Supervisor John Venditto read a statement saying that a new group of investors wants to take over the concessions that Singh ran. Those investors are speaking to the bank that Singh owes money to and are trying to negotiate a settlement.
Venditto said whether or not a settlement is reached, taxpayers shouldn't have to pay up because the deal with Singh was improperly negotiated by the fired worker - a man they describe as a "rogue employee."
Town officials say there's no way of telling how long the negotiations may take involving the loan repayments.