NEW YORK - FORMER New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik pleaded guilty to a slew of charges in his high-profile corruption trial on Thursday, a federal prosecutor said.

Kerik, who was New York's head of police at the time of the Sept 11, 2001 attacks, admitted to accepting US$255,000 (S$357,000) worth of renovations to his apartment from a construction firm angling for government contracts.

The company - which is suspected of having mob ties - installed marble bathrooms, a jacuzzi and a new kitchen in the former police chief's apartment in the upscale New York suburb of Riverdale.

According to the indictment, Kerik then contacted regulators on behalf of the firm, but concealed the payments in tax returns as the firm was being investigated.

On Thursday he also pleaded guilty to lying to White house officials about the renovations while being vetted to become the head of Homeland Security. He pleaded guilty to a total of eight charges.

Kerik was also accused of not declaring a total of US$236,000 in rent he received on an luxury apartment in New York's posh Upper East Side. Other payments allegedly not declared include a total of US$100,000 received from a software company and a book publisher. -- AFP