Governor Andrew Cuomo is setting aside hundreds of thousands of dollars of contributions to his re-election campaign from donors linked to a corruption scandal.
It comes after the arrests of nine people in a sweeping state bid-rigging and bribery federal case unveiled last week.
Two of those arrested, upstate developers Lou Ciminelli and Steven Aiello, have contributed generously to Cuomo.
While the donations will not actually be returned, party officials say they will be put in a separate account and subject to forfeiture.
Cuomo, who is running for a third term in 2018, has received a combined $350,000 from Ciminelli, as well as the developer’s family members.
Aiello, meanwhile, has contributed $10,000 to Cuomo.
The move comes after Cuomo's campaign was asked repeatedly whether the donations would be returned and hours after fellow statewide elected Democrats, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, announced that THEY would be returning donations from the two men.