Sources: Investigators conduct search of Town of Hempstead's Building Department
Sources say Nassau County District Attorney's Public Corruption Bureau executed a search warrant at the Town of Hempstead's Building Department Tuesday.
News 12 is told investigators seized digital files from the town's IT department.
As News 12 reported, the Hempstead Town Building Department has come under scrutiny for the way in which it assessed damage to homes after Superstorm Sandy.
FEMA says the department's procedural errors could prevent homeowners from getting proper flood insurance, and may have left many out of compliance with FEMA requirements.
In September, in an unrelated incident, the Building Department's Deputy Commissioner John Novello was arrested and charged with stealing thousands of dollars from the Cedarhurst Republican Club.
Federal investigators are also looking into agreements between the town and a vendor at the Malibu Beach facility and other town properties.
Hofstra Law School professor and former Nassau County prosecutor Fred Klein says its not necessarily out of the ordinary for two investigations to take place simultaneously in the same town, but "The fact that it's both the Nassau DA's Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office, however, indicates to me that they have some indication of what they're looking for."
News 12 reached out to the Republican Town Board majority for comment. Counsel to the board Rich Regina told News 12, "Town Board members should not comment on active investigations. That being said, I am not aware of the district attorney's office contacting any of the council members regarding this."
A spokesperson for the DA's office declined to comment.