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Top Democrat In NY Senate Charged With Looting Charity Of Millions
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April 21, 2010 11:03 a.m. EST
Topics: government, politics, public officials, crime, law and justice, prosecution, United States
Kris Alingod - AHN News Contributor
Albany, NY, United States (AHN) - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has charged the top Democrat in the state Senate with siphoning more than $14 million from a Bronx charity that receives taxpayer funds. State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada has called the allegations "political payback" for his role in a Republican coup that put government operations at a near-standstill last year.
The civil lawsuit filed on Tuesday accuses Espada of diverting assets of Soundview, a non-profit where he serves as president and chief executive officer.
Use of the funds was approved by chief financial officer Kenneth Brennan, who is also named in the suit, and the charity's board, which Cuomo says is "packed with Espada's family, friends and Senate employees."
Some 18 current and former officers and directors of Soundview are also charged in the lawsuit.
The attorney general wants Espada, Brennan and directors permanently removed from the charity, which was founded by the senator to provide healthcare to his constituents in South Bronx.
"[Soundview] receives a vast majority of its funding from the state and federal government," Cuomo said in a statement. "Taxpayer money was given to this not-for-profit to provide healthcare services to underprivileged patients, but our investigation has found the funds flowed into the pockets of Senator Espada and his supporters."
According to the lawsuit, Espada was able to include in a 2005 contract an unconditionally guaranteed severance package worth an estimated $9 million, an amount that Cuomo said would force the charity into bankruptcy.
Espada allegedly used $80,000 in non-profit funds to pay for 650 meals for him and his supporters, including more than $20,000 from two sushi restaurants that regularly delivered to the senator's home in Mamaroneck. He also created a janitorial services company headed by his son, Pedro Gautier Espada, who allegedly rigged bids to ensure that the company won a contract worth $400,000 annually from Soundview.
The charity allegedly paid for "purported business trips" made by Espada and his family to Miami, Las Vegas and Puerto Rico.
Soundview also "routinely pays" for campaign expenses charged to Espada's American Express card, including charges in the final month of the 2008 primary for the state Senate. Soundview employees were used in Espada's re-election campaign, the suit says.
Cuomo said his investigation also found the charity provides Espada with a $2,500 monthly housing allowance for a second home, a Bronx co-op which the senator claimed as his legal residence during his 2008 campaign.
The attorney general adds that the charity failed to pay $700,000 in federal payroll taxes in 2008 but paid for Espada's credit card charges, including $250,000 in personal expenses, because of a directive to pay the senator and his family "before any other vendor or financial obligation."
Espada on Tuesday read a prepared statement during a press conference accusing Cuomo, a Democrat who is widely expected to run for governor this November, of retaliation.
"It is clear to many that the motivation behind all of this is simple political payback for what the establishment likes to call the Senate coup, but what I call the start of real reform in the New York State Senate," the Albany Times Union quotes him as saying.
Republicans in the state Senate held a coup last June, joined by Espada and a Democrat who was expelled by the Senate this year because of an assault conviction, Hiram Monserrate. Monserrate later decided to return to his old caucus, putting the balance of power in the chamber at 31-31.
The stalemate dragged on beyond the end of the 2009 legislative session, forcing New York Gov. Paterson to appoint a lieutenant governor, who has the power to vote in case of a parliamentary standoff. It was resolved with a compromise that involved making Espada majority leader upon his return to the Democratic Party.
The Republican Party of New York on Tuesday issued a statement calling the allegations against its former ally "shameful."
"Albany Democrats are so ensconced in a culture of corruption of their own making that they simply can no longer govern," the state GOP said.
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