NYC woman accused of offering $50 bribe after failing city test: officials

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11)-- A Brooklyn woman working as a lunch helper for the Department of Education allegedly tried to bribe a city official with $50 after failing a food protection certificate exam, the Department of Investigation announced Tuesday. 

The lunch helper, identified as 53-year-old Caselle Whyte, attempted to bribe an Associate Public Health Sanitarian with money after she discovered her failure in the food protection certificate exam in October 2023, according to a criminal complaint. 

“This defendant used bribery to try and obtain a certificate confirming she had passed an exam about the safe handling of food, when in fact she had failed the exam, according to the criminal complaint. ” DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said. “This kind of corruption can jeopardize the health of New Yorkers, but thankfully, the Department of Health employee who was offered the alleged bribe rejected the offer and reported it to DOI, consistent with the legal obligation of all City employees to report corruption.”

When offered the bribe, the Associate Public Health Sanitarian immediately reported the incident to the DOI, initiating an undercover investigation, officials said. 

In December 2023, DOI investigators listened to a recorded call between the Associate Public Health Sanitarian and Whyte, during which the defendant confirmed that after failing the test, she had $50 in her hand, officials said. She later admitted that she would have offered more money if the APHS employee had taken her initial offer, according to DOI. 

In February 2024, DOI investigators and the APHS provided the defendant with the contact information for a coworker who could help her pass the exam for money. The coworker was an undercover investigator. 

In May 2024, DOI investigators conducted and recorded a call between the undercover DOI investigator and Whyte. Documents show that Whyte said she would provide $200 in exchange for assistance in passing the exam. 

According to records, the defendant handed $100 to the undercover investigator on Monday in exchange for the exam answers. Whyte offered to provide an additional $100 after taking and passing the exam, according to the records. Whyte was arrested after providing $100 to the undercover investigator to obtain the exam answers, officials said.

Whyte faces two counts of bribery in the third degree, a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison. She was released on her recognizance and is due back in court in August.