ALBANY — An upstate Assemblyman who was supposed to turn himself in to the FBI on Friday morning instead shot himself to death in a cemetery.
Bill Nojay’s apparent suicide took place in front of Rochester police officer who had responded to a call to “check the welfare” of an individual in the area.
Sources say it was Nojay’s lawyer who made the call after the lawmaker called to say he was going to kill himself.
The cop who arrived at the scene four minutes later saw Nojay fatally shoot himself, police said.
Nojay, a Republican who lived just outside of Rochester, killed himself in front his family’s cemetery plot.
The Daily News first reported that Nojay was supposed to turn himself into the FBI on Friday to face fraud charges.
The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reported the charges had to do with a trust fund he handled as an attorney.
The paper previously reported that Nojay was also reportedly the central figure in an FBI investigation into a business deal related to Rochester’s $1.3 billion school modernization program.
Separately, Nojay and three others were recently charged with fraud in Cambodia after a wealthy Phnom Penh dentist claimed the group got her to invest $1 million in a rice exporting company that never opened.He had denied any fraud.
Nojay, 59, was first elected to the Assembly in 2012. He remains on the ballot for Tuesday’s primary. GOP leaders will have to pick a new candidate if he wins.
Nojay was supposed to moderate a Senate candidates forum Thursday night, but abruptly cancelled, a source said.
The Conservative Republican was an avid Trump supporter and was one of those who tried to get the billionaire businessman to run for governor of New York in 2014.
Nojay was a businessman who vocally opposed Gov. Cuomo’s gun control law known as the SAFE Act. He organized an event against the law called “Freedompalooza” but it attracted few attendees.
Nojay lived in Pittsford, Monroe County, near Rochester. He had three children with his wife, Debra. Nojay served as an election monitor with the International Republican Institute in Ukraine and Afghanistan. And he was a director and secretary/treasurer of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran.
He was a small-business owner and host of a daily radio show that ran upstate. His last show was Thursday.
Gov. Cuomo, a frequent target of Nojay criticism, tweeted out that “on behalf of all NY’ers, I extend our deepest condolences to Assemblyman Nojay’s family, friends & constituents during this trying time.”
Nojay’s Assembly colleagues reacted with shock and sadness.
“The Assembly Republican Conference has lost a true friend and today our collective hearts are broken,” said Assembly GOP Minority Leader Brian Kolb. “Bill was dedicated to improving New York and communities he served in the Rochester area. He will forever be missed.”
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Bronx Democrat, said in a statement that “I cannot express how saddened we are to learn about the passing of Assemblymember Bill Nojay. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bill’s wife and children.”
“Truly heartbroken to learn of death of my friend & colleague Assemblyman Bill Nojay,” Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) tweeted. “He was talented, passionate, principled. I will miss him.”
Assemblyman Steven McLaughlin, like Nojay an outspoken Assembly Republican, said he spoke to Nojay a few weeks ago and everything seemed normal. He said Nojay did not bring up the fraud case hanging over him.
“I couldn’t see this coming at all,” McLaughlin (R-Rensselaer County). “He was a smart, sharper mind. Really one of the sharpest minds. He certainly wans’t afraid to speak out.”
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Bronx Democrat, said in a statement that “I cannot express how saddened we are to learn about the passing of Assemblymember Bill Nojay. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bill’s wife and children.”
