Charges in a wide-ranging corruption probe, conducted by federal prosecutor Phreet Bharara, have been filed against a former executive of Competitive Power Ventures (CPV), the company that is in the process of building a controversial 650-megawatt power plant in Orange County.

The indictment charges that Peter Galbraith Kelly, Jr., a former executive at CPV, provided gifts such as “expensive meals and a Hamptons fishing trip” to Joseph Percoco, who at the time was executive deputy secretary to Governor Andrew Cuomo and has a long-term close relationship with Cuomo, in return for Percoco’s attempts to get favorable decisions regarding state actions related to the development of the power plant.

Further, the indictment says CPV created a $90,000 a year position for Percoco’s wife, who was required to do little work.

A press release from Bharara’s office says, “The energy company’s payments to Percoco’s wife were concealed in various ways to hide their true source. Kelly ran the monthly payments to Percoco and his wife through a consultant who worked for the energy company in order to disguise the source of the payments. Kelly also made sure that Percoco’s wife’s photograph and full name were not included in promotional materials for the energy company, and he falsely told his superiors at the energy company–on two separate occasions–that Percoco had obtained an ethics opinion from the governor’s office approving of Percoco’s wife’s employment with the energy company, when in fact no such opinion existed.”

Earlier this year, Todd Howe, a former consultant to CPV and a former aide to Cuomo, pleaded guilty to several charges related to the case and is cooperating with federal prosecutors.

The revelations could have an impact on the election for the state’s 42nd Senate District, which covers Sullivan County and parts of Orange, Ulster and Delaware counties. Pramilla Malick, who is expected to soon be officially announced as the Democratic candidate in the race for the district, has long been an energy activist and has campaigned vigorously against the CPV power plant.

Malick is running against long-time senator John Bonacic, who has supported the CPV project, and whose son, John “Scott” Bonacic, according to a Malick press release, brokered the purchase of land for the CPV project, and through his law firm handled “community relations” for the project.

Malick, who is also a member of Protect Orange, said in a statement, “When you look at all the public health impacts and environmental conditions that were systematically ignored there is only one conclusion, that there were other motivations and incentives at play.” She added, “If a Mom from Minisink can smell corruption a mile away, are we really supposed to believe John Bonacic was completely unaware of all the corruption that was going on right under his nose?”

Michael Sussman, a lawyer for Protect Orange County, wrote in a social media post, “We can no longer trust a company which bribes elected and appointed officials to run a major power plant, and all permits and approvals and subsidies need to be withdrawn. There can be no complicity with and no award for this kind of behavior and it must be severely punished. Bribing officials to get approvals for key permits suggests that the applicant has no confidence in its own project and must resort to such tactics.”

Senator Bonacic issued a statement saying, “These charges related to CPV and former officials from the Governor’s office are disturbing. I am asking the Attorney General to conduct an independent investigation into CPV’s permitting process.