title:  New York Gun License Broker Paid Off Cops To Approve Client Licenses
text: Police have suspended the licenses of at least 37 New York City gun owners following the arrest of gun license broker Shaya Lichtenstein.According to New York Daily News, Lichtenstein s  cozy relationship  with New York City police officers paid off well for some clients who sought his help in obtaining licenses for their weapons.Although the city has strict requirements for obtaining a gun license, many of Lichtenstein s customers were given a pass on necessary paperwork and in-person interviews.For the privilege of circumventing the law, Lichtenstein charged his clients between $5,000 and $25,000.New York Daily News reports that while, there is a mountain of documentation that s required,  to gain a gun license in the city, all some of Lichtenstein s clients needed was  to send in a few pieces of paper for the permit to go forward. On April 18 Lichtenstein was charged with bribing police officers in Manhattan Federal Court.According to the charges published here, an undercover investigation involving Lichtenstein began in 2013.According to the documents, after one of the license broker s closest contacts inside the police department stopped helping him, he offered to pay an undercover officer $6,000 per gun license.While none of the cops who are implicated in taking bribes have been identified by name, an officer referred to as Deputy Inspector-1 is alleged to have taken bribes from Lichtenstein. The documents describe Deputy Inspector-1 as  the Commanding Officer of the License Division. Two other NYPD officers, referred to as Officer-1 and Sergeant-1 are also implicated in taking bribes.During an interview with investigators, Officer-1 stated that Lichtenstein provided the two with  lunch money  in return for approving gun licenses. When asked how much  lunch money  the cops were getting, Officer-1 said $100.Court filings show that the officers approved licenses for Lichtenstein s clients, including people with criminal records who were not legally able to obtain a license in New York City.Read the full complaint here.Featured image via Pixabay