Down the Drain: 'Money man' ID revealed

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Months after an undercover Target 12 investigation showed taxpayer money going "Down the Drain," The Target 12 Investigators have uncovered new details about the case, including the status of workers involved and details on the so-called "money man" caught in undercover video.

Several months ago, an undercover unit caught some workers from the Providence Sewer Department using city equipment for personal gains, and others running errands in city trucks on the taxpayer's dime.

A criminal investigation into the possible misuse of city equipment has turned up empty. However, Target 12 has learned all three men implicated in the initial investigation no longer work for the city, including former Sewer Department foreman Anthony Greenwood.

Undercover video showed a city-owned backhoe doing work on a home, which according to city records is owned by Greenwood. He was fired after the initial investigation.

The man behind the wheel of the backhoe - Anthony Cipriano Jr., a heavy equipment operator with the Sewer Department, was also fired.

Our undercover unit followed Cipriano for weeks and caught him in a city truck running personal errands for hours on end outside the city of Providence. All of which is against city policy and all conducted while the clock was ticking on the taxpayer's dime.

The city's largest union, Local 1033, is fighting the termination of Cipriano and Greenwood and their cases will likely go to arbitration.

The "Down the Drain" investigation went higher up in the department. The undercover unit also tracked down Sewer Department supervisor, Algot Abrahamson, to the Decatur Social Club.

Rhode Island State Police Lt. Colonel Steven O'Donnell said the club has been raided several times by police.

"It's been a gambling mecca. Organized illegal gambling," O'Donnell said.

It's also a place Abrahamson shouldn't be while on the clock.

Tim White: Have you received any complaints in your personnel file for taking a city truck to that location?

Algot Abrahamson: Yes, I have once. He told me don't take the city truck there, I never did again.

Tim White: Well, no, clearly you did do it again.

Algot Abrahamson: I stopped there for 8 minutes. Obviously, I did go there, but it's to buy the coffee cups."

The mayor's office said Abrahamson has since resigned from the sewer department.

Following the Target 12 Investigation, the number one question viewers asked was "who was the man caught in our undercover video outside the Decatur Social Club handling slips of paper and wads of cash?"

Further digging revealed the "money man" is Gary Corsi, another Sewer Dept. worker who's been on paid leave following an on-the-job injury.

According to public records, Corsi has been collecting worker's comp since August 2008 tax free.

According to worker's comp rules, employees are allowed to work another job as long as they report any income so their disability payments can be reduced.

When asked if he was reporting the income he was making while apparently working at the social club, Corsi said, "I'm not working anywhere.

When Target 12 Investigator Tim White showed Corsi a snapshot from our surveillance video, showing him outside the social club, Corsi handed the photo back without saying a word.

The city could not say whether Corsi does or doesn't report any additional income. Corsi does have a clean criminal history.