Posted on 08/20/2009 10:37:49 PM PDT by neverdem
Bronx Senator's Financial Windfall From Turning Albany On Its Ear Continues With $568,000 For Staff Hires Reporting
NEW YORK (CBS) Senator Pedro Espada is embroiled in a new pay controversy. CBS 2 HD has learned he's doling out raises and jobs to friends and cronies with money he got after he re-defected to the Democrats in the Albany circus.
The Albany coup is the gift that keeps on giving -- to Espada. After the renegade politician agreed to rejoin the Democrats -- giving them the majority -- he received $568,000 for increases to his staff.
"He's really the poster boy for what's wrong with Albany, how the system really does not work for ordinary New Yorkers at all," said Susan Lerner of the good government watchdog group Common Cause.
Good government groups take issue with who Espada hired -- several cronies with ties to the Soundview Health Clinic he owns in the Bronx.
Among the hires:
* Jerry Love Jr. is the new $40,000-year special assistant to Espada's housing committee. Jerry's mom, Sandra, pleaded guilty to funneling Soundview funds for family care and aids programs into Espada's political campaigns.
* Andrew Fear, the new $35,000 special counsel to the housing committee was on the Soundview payroll as general counsel.
* Steven Pigeon, the political operative credited with orchestrating the coup, was rewarded with a $150,000 job as Espada's counsel.
* Sigfredo Gonzalez, who travelled to Albany to rally support for Espada during the coup, got a $31,000 community outreach job.
Lerner said it reminds her of the cronyism of Tammany Hall.
"Doesn't it seem that way, that what he really is modeling himself on is Boss Tweed and Boss Tweed wasn't acceptable at the beginning of the 20th century. He's not acceptable at the beginning of the 21st century," Lerner said.
Participating in the Albany coup was also very, very good to Queens Sen. Hiram Monserrate. He got $100,000 to hand out for staff raises.
Espada claims that some of the new hiring and pay raises are the result of him becoming the Senate majority leader after the coup.
He said the jobs have "nothing" to do with the coup and "everything" to do with serving his district.
This thief belongs in jail.
Soundview HealthCare Network------NY state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr.'s Bronx health-care business-----owes $347,000 in back taxes and will have to revise a 2007 IRS filing that ignored Espada's nearly $460,000 in compensation. Espada is CEO of Comprehensive Community Development Corp., which runs the Soundview HealthCare Network of five clinics receiving millions of dollars in government support.
Comprehensive Community Development has several tax problems that are prompting the state to review its contracts, news organs reported. A tax lien recorded in April shows the corporation owed $185,000 in federal income tax withheld from employees. The organization also owes $73,842 in withheld state income tax. The state Labor Dept filed a tax warrant for $88,463 in unpaid unemployment-insurance taxes. Espada refused to talk about the finances of his health-care business. Sen Espada has two pending election violation cases. In one case, he and his campaign committees owe New York state $13,000 in fines for not filing contribution records related to his 2008 election campaign. In the other case, he was ordered by a court in December 2008 to pay the New York City Campaign Finance Board $60,000 in fines related to his 2001 campaign for Bronx borough president.
An Upstate newspaper reports that Senate leaders have already authorized more than $500,000 in pay raises and new staff controlled by Espada -- much of which has gone straight to veterans of Soundview, The Bronx. Among the new hires:
* Marzetta Harris, former Soundview marketing coordinator, now Senate's "outreach director" @ $60,000.
* Soundview counsel Alexander Fear, now special counsel to the Senate Housing Committee.
* Jerry Love Jr., son of (current) Soundview employee who pleaded guilty in 2005 to steering funds from the center to Espada's political campaign.
The Post's Isabel Vincent reported Soundview itself functions largely as an Espada-family jobs mill. Of the center's $15 million annual revenue -- almost all of it from government sources -- possibly upward of $1 million flows directly to Espada, his relatives and political allies. This includes:
* The nearly $460,000 Espada took home in 2007 -- though he claims he's taken a pay cut since joining the Senate.
* $90,000 a year jobs for each of his three sons -- Pedro, Alejandro and Romero
* $136,000 for his former campaign treasurer, Kenneth Brennan.
* And, positions for Love's ex-con mother, Sandra, and her convicted co-conspirator, Maria Cruz.
Soundview's unpaid board of directors, meanwhile, is packed with family and friends -- including Espada's grandfather and daughter-in-law -- while uncle Juan Feliciano Jr. until recently served as CEO......all apparently live in Puerty Rico.
NYAG Andrew Cuomo has been investigating Espada for using Soundview as a personal and political piggy bank. Now, it appears, Espada seems to be doing the same thing with the Senate.
* Espada paid himself nothing in 2007, IRS documents indicate -- but the corporation's chief financial officer says they will be amended to show the lawmaker paid himself more than $450,000 a year, some $80,000 more than the standard for a charity its size.
* Espada stacks his nonprofit board with relatives and friends. His grandfather Victor Feliciano -- who is between 90 and 100 years old and lives in Puerto Rico -- is on the board and votes via conference calls from the family compound there.
* Lourdes Mocete, who is married to Espada's eldest son, Pedro G. Espada, is chairwoman of the board, according to 2007 tax records, the latest available.
* Pedro G. Espada, 35, draws a $90,000 salary, sources say, as Soundview's director of "environmental care." He abruptly resigned this week from a $120,000 no-show Senate job created out of thin air by Sen Espada. Following a NY Post investigation -- Espada's son resigned. The Post proved he lied, and had never actually been on the premises. he was apparently still collecting $90,000 salary as Soundview's director of "environmental care. No word on whether he shows up there.
* Only one Soundview board member, T.L. Solimon, was identified as a doctor -- but his license is inactive.
* Espada's uncle, Juan Feliciano Jr., was the chief executive officer at the Soundview medical clinic. He left that position in January after he took an Albany job paying about $76,000 a year.
Meanwhile, Espada's other sons, Romero and Alejandro, each rake in about $90,000 at the Soundview Health Center on White Plains Road, a political insider said. When The Post went looking for them there, they were not at work. Romero Espada, 27, is director of Soundview's "help desk," a post he has held since 2006. His job is to train employees on the clinic's computer systems.
Alejandro Espada, 30, oversees his father's five clinics, according to Soundview's longtime chief financial officer, Kenneth Brennan. Brennan worked as campaign treasurer for Espada in 2001 and 2003. He sits on the corporate board and earns just under $136,000, according to the nonprofit's 2006 tax filings, the most recent to list his salary.
"Charities" are required to disclose personal relationships.....state law bans elected officials from participating in "any decision to hire, promote, discipline or discharge a relative" for any paid state post.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08202009/postopinion/editorials/pedros_new_piggybank_185442.htm
8/20/09 POL GAVE 160G TO WIFE'S FIRM By MAGGIE HABERMAN, NY POST. City Councilman Eric Gioia's campaign has paid more than $160,000 to the fund-raising firm run by his wife for his current run for public advocate, records show. His campaign has paid the Esler Group, run by his wife, fund-raiser Lisa Hernandez Gioia, $162,812, campaign-finance board filings reviewed by The Post show. The campaign said the payments are in line with a CFB advisory opinion the campaign sought out at the beginning of the race. The opinion said the Gioia campaign "specifically asks for guidance regarding the proper treatment of Ms. Hernandez Gioia's volunteered personal services," as well as the campaign's use of the company's facilities, equipment, supplies, and employee services," according to the opinion. http://www.nypost.com/seven/08202009/news/regionalnews/pol_gave_160g_to_wifes_firm_185433.htm
6/10/09 TWO CHARGED WITH EMBEZZLING FROM BRONX NOT-FOR-PROFIT (AP) Two people have been charged with stealing tens of thousands of dollars from a Bronx non-profit, accused of using the money to pay for clothing, restaurants, travel and illegal campaign contributions. Federal authorities in Manhattan unsealed charges that accuse Richard Arroyo and Margarita Villegas of embezzling federal funds from SBCC Management. Arroyo is president and Villegas is director of SBCC. The corporation provides management services to two residential buildings with low-income tenants in the Bronx. Prosecutors and the city's Dept of Investigation say between June 2002 and August 2008 the two charged $180,000 in personal expenses to a SBCC American Express account but only paid back $6,300. A spokeswoman with the U.S. Attorney's office did not know the names of their lawyers. http://www.nypost.com/seven/06102009/news/regionalnews/bronx/2_charged_with_embezzling_from_bronx_not_173569.htm
6/10/09 CITY COUNCILWOMAN'S NEPHEW ACCUSED OF STEALING FEDERAL FUNDS By SALLY GOLDEBNERG The nephew of a Bronx City Councilwoman and his associate were arrested today for stealing federal money from a non-profit to go on an expensive shopping spree, pay for trips to Puerto Rico and donate to political campaigns, the Dept of Investigation charged today. Richard Izquierdo, nephew of City Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo and the grandson of Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo, and his business partner Margarita Villegas, were charged with embezzling $200,000 from the South Bronx Community Corp., a non-profit that helps low-income disabled and elderly tenants, DOI said. Izquierdo and Villegas are accused of spending $6,000 on meals at swanky restaurants May 2005-Feb 2009, including Tavern on the Green and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. They also are accused of spending $48,000 on travel expenses, including trips for the councilwoman; $34,000 on car rentals and $5,500 on florists. Together they only reimbursed $6,300 to the community group, DOI said. They used the non-profit's money to make campaign contributions to the councilwoman's mother, Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo (D-Bronx) and paid $3,800 to install floors in her district office. Izquierdo also runs a charter school in the South Bronx where the councilwoman directed government funds. "Two insiders took a free ride at their not-for-profit organization's expense," DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said. The US Attorney's Office, NY is prosecuting the case. http://www.nypost.com/seven/06102009/news/regionalnews/city_councilwomans_nephew_arrested_for_s_173560.htm
7/31/09 NEW RAPS IN FED-AID 'SCAM' By BRUCE GOLDING The politically-connected head of a Bronx nonprofit was hit yesterday with a host of new charges in the alleged rip-off of more than $200,000 that was supposed to be spent on low-income housing. Richard Izquierdo Arroyo -- a nephew of City Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo and grandson of Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo -- was named in a Manhattan federal indictment charging him and a partner with conspiracy to embezzle federal funds and other crimes. The two were arrested last month for allegedly running a scam that siphoned funds from their company, SBCC Management Corp. The spending spree included more than $10,000 for a two-week vacation in Puerto Rico in Nov 2008. http://www.nypost.com/seven/07312009/news/regionalnews/new_raps_in_fed_aid_scam_182243.htm
8/11/09 COUNCIL KIN 'SKIM SCAM' By BRUCE GOLDING The nephew of a Bronx councilwoman yesterday denied skimming about $200,000 from a taxpayer-funded nonprofit which runs two low-income apartment buildings in The Bronx. Richard Izquierdo Arroyo -- the nephew of Maria del Carmen Arroyo -- and an associate, Margarita Villegas, both pleaded not guilty to conspiring to embezzle federal funds from SBCC Management Corp. Richard Arroyo, who's also the grandson of state Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo, allegedly used the dough for personal luxuries as well as plane tickets to Puerto Rico for his grandmother and aunt. The money also paid for summer interns for both officials and flooring for the assemblywoman's district office, authorities said. Neither pol was charged in the alleged scheme. Richard Arroyo got court permission to jet off to Puerto Rico, where he allegedly blew more than $10,000 of the cash on a vacation last year. He plans to fly there for a business conference next month, his lawyer said. http://www.nypost.com/seven/08112009/news/regionalnews/council_kin_skim_scam_183972.htm
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July 2, 2009
Dept of Justice----US Atty's Office----Southern District of Florida
Two Miami Men Indicted for $179 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme
FR Posted July 02, 2009 by Larry381
Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, and Christopher B. Dennis, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Miami Regional Office, announced that defendants Jose Luis Perez, of Golden Beach, FL, and Reinaldo Guerra, of Miami, FL, were indicted on June 30, 2009 on charges of conspiracy to commit Medicare fraud, Medicare fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
According to the Indictment unsealed today, the fraud involved durable medical equipment (DME), which is equipment that can be used in the home on a repeated basis for a medical purpose. Where DME is prescribed or ordered by a physician, an authorized Medicare provider who supplies the equipment to a Medicare beneficiary may be eligible for reimbursement by Medicare.
The Indictment charges that Perez and Guerra owned and operated 21 corporations that purported to supply DME to Medicare beneficiaries pursuant to physicians’ prescriptions or written orders, using straw or nominee owners to disguise their control over the companies.
They submitted approximately $179 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare for DME that had not been prescribed or ordered by a physician nor delivered to a Medicare beneficiary. Based on those claims, Medicare paid the DME companies approximately $56 million.
In addition to health care fraud, the defendants were charged with aggravated identity theft for using physicians’ Medicare identification numbers without the physicians’ authorization. Guerra has been arrested and appeared in court earlier today. Perez remains at large and is being sought by law enforcement.
Mr. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Osborne. ////AuntB to Liz ” They submitted approximately $179M in fraudulent claims to Medicare for DME that had not been prescribed or ordered by a physician nor delivered to a Medicare beneficiary.” This is proof that Medicare and any ‘govt health care’ like it run by this government is wide open for fraud. No one is minding the store! And because they have ‘minority’ sounding name they probably weren’t allowed to investigate. The missing perp is in Mexico with the money by now.
NOTE He probably stiffed several banks holding mortgages, and is collecting SS checks w/ several ID's, tax refunds, UI checks, disability checks, etc etc etc.
But Bama said that it was 'get rich quick' doctors removing tonsils instead of prescribing that magic 'pill' that was wasting all his money.
Same 'system' had to be used on the 'cash for clunkers' program.
“Bama said”.............we know now......everything he says comes with an expiration date.
Rahm must give him a multiple choice list for his speeches.
There does seem to be a pattern set using the 'intel' they gather from his vast number of commissars to provide him with examples. I have not yet read/heard Bama complain about anyone but doctors and insurance companies. Interesting now isn't it that the summation of Bama words could have been extrapolated from what you have sited.
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