The right-hand man to disgraced former NYPD chief of department Jeffrey Maddrey was fired from the job after he was caught up in the same sex-for-overtime scandal that sunk his boss, police and sources told The Post Thursday.
Deputy Chief Paul Saraceno was pushed out this month after he allegedly signed off on scores of old overtime slips for then-Lt. Quathisha Epps, who was allegedly involved in a sex-for-bonus bucks quid-pro-quo with Maddrey, a law enforcement source said.
Epps, who was the department’s top OT earner to the tune of $403,515 last year, exited the NYPD last year after she accused Maddrey of coercing her into sex – a bombshell claim first reported on by The Post.
Maddrey stepped down soon after he was contacted about Epps’ claims, which included forcing her to have sex with him at NYPD headquarters.
Saraceno allegedly grabbed up a “bunch of overtime slips from (Epps) in November that were from earlier in 2024 and backdating more than 170 of them,” the source said.
The deputy chief allegedly signed off on the slips even though he was aware there was an active investigation into the astronomical extra pay for Epps, according to the source.
Saraceno put his retirement papers in at the pension board Thursday, according to an internal police document obtained by The Post.
He left under a state clause enacted in 2011 that allows NYPD members to retire if they are dismissed with 20 years or more on the job.
Saraceno, who was initially demoted from his position after the allegations first came to light, will hang onto his pension but won’t receive a letter that indicates he left on good terms or keep his gun, another police source told The Post.
He did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
The NYPD confirmed Thursday he was terminated this month as NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch works to root out corruption within the scandal-scarred agency.
Part of that effort involved reorganizing the Internal Affairs Bureau and additional offices after the alleged sex-for-OT deal came to light.
Maddrey called the sex with Epps “consensual” and denied any abuse. Police sources previously said Epps retired in January.
Federal prosecutors and the NYPD both have opened investigations into the accusations.
Chris Monahan, the president of the NYPD’s Captains Endowment Association, told The Post that Saraceno reported directly to Maddrey and “he was caught between a rock and a hard place.”
Saraceno was disciplined in 2022 under then-top cop Keechant Sewell after an internal affairs probe found he misused department time and submitted a false timesheet, a police source said.