Probe of ex-NYPD chief’s finances grew out of liquor Ponzi scheme
The FBI investigation of ex-NYPD Chief of Department Philip Banks grew out of a probe into a suspected liquor-wholesaling scam that turned out to be a $12 million Ponzi scheme. The feds began investigating businessman Hamlet Peralta over suspicions he was selling “stolen . . . untaxed” booze and was engaged in financial chicanery to cover up...