Educator pleads guilty to submitting false time cards

On May 6, 2022, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and the Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick announced that a teacher [Educator] employed in a school district's "after-school program" [The Twilight Program] to assist students in need of support to graduate "on time" plead guilty to corrupting the government in the 3rd Degree, admitting his having submitted submitting false time cards to the school district.*

This investigation was the result of the coordinated efforts of the New York State Comptroller’s Office and the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office.

“Abuse of public funds should never be tolerated, but is particularly egregious when an educator takes funds meant to improve students’ lives,” said Comptroller DiNapoli.  “I thank District Attorney Fitzpatrick for his continuing partnership in combating public corruption and for holding [Educator] accountable.”

Teachers participating in the district’s Twilight Program receive additional compensation for teaching classes to Twilight participants. As the program coordinator, Educator was in charge of the Twilight teaching schedule and also received additional compensation for his services at Twilight.

From 2016-2018, Educator regularly left his Twilight position early but submitted time cards that inflated the number of hours he had actually worked at Twilight. He also directed certain Twilight teachers to submit false time sheets that reported that  they were at work when they were not. 

Educator was arrested in May of 2021, together with two Twilight teachers. The  cases involving these other Twilight teachers are still pending.

* Educator also agreed to resign from his employment with the school district. 

New York Public Personnel Law Handbooks

The Discipline Book - A concise guide to disciplinary actions involving public officers and employees in New York State set out as an e-book. For more about this electronic handbook, click HERE.

A Reasonable Disciplinary Penalty Under the Circumstances- The text of this publication focuses on determining an appropriate disciplinary penalty to be imposed on an employee in the public service in instances where the employee has been found guilty of misconduct or incompetence. For more information about this e-book click HERE.

 

 

A public retirement system of New York State is required to correct errors made in its administration of retirement benefits

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (W. Franc Perry, J.), entered May 11, 2021, denying the petition to annul a determination of respondent Board of Trustees of New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS), which reclassified petitioners from Tier 4 to revised Tier 3/Tier 6 membership, and dismissing the proceeding brought pursuant to CPLR article 78, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Petitioner in the CPLR Article 78 action were members of various New York State stage and local had left their previous jobs within the various retirement systems and were hired as uniformed sanitation workers by the City of New York after April 1, 2012. These petitioners became sanitation workers and were placed in Tier 4 of the New York City Employees' Retirement System [NYCERS] based on their prior participation in public employee retirement systems.

In 2016, NYCERS determined that it had made an error, and reclassified Petitioners' memberships in NYCERS from the Tier 4 Sanitation 20-Year retirement plan [SA-20] pursuant to Retirement and Social Security Law Article 15 to the revised Tier 3/Tier 6 Sanitation 22-Year retirement plan [SA-22] pursuant to Retirement and Social Security Law Article 14.

The Appellate Division rejected Petitioners' contention that the doctrine of "equitable estoppel" barred NYCERS placing in SA-22. The court explained that NYCER "is mandated by statute to correct errors in administration of retirement benefits," and held that "estoppel may not be invoked to prevent [NYCERS] from reclassifying Petitioners' memberships in SA-22", noting that reading these provisions together determines whether a sanitation worker is subject to the SA-20 or SA-22 plan, based on the date that he or she becomes a sanitation member.

In the words of the Appellate Division, "The legislative history of the amendment supports the conclusion that "new . . . uniformed sanitation . . . members" such as petitioners, who were not sanitation members before April 1, 2012, would be given the "modified Tier 3 police/fire benefits" provided in SA-22."

Further, said the court, "The Retirement and Social Security Law transfer provision, which applies to two of the five individual petitioners, entitles them to credit for prior service. It does not affect the date that they became uniformed sanitation members...."

Finally, opined the Appellate Division, Petitioners' membership reclassification did not violate Article V, §7 of the New York State Constitution which, in pertinent part, provides that "After July first, nineteen hundred forty, membership in any pension or retirement system of the state or of a civil division thereof shall be a contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired", since "petitioners were never entitled to [SA]-20 benefits to begin with and, thus, did not have a contractual right to those benefits."

Click HEREto access the Appellate Division's posted on the Internet.

 

Audits and reports issued by the New York State Comptroller during the week ending May 6, 2022

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced the following audits have been issued during the week ending May 6, 2022:

Click on the text highlighted in colorto access the complete audit report.

Municipal Audits

City of Amsterdam – Budget Review (Montgomery County) City officials did not implement all recommendations in the previous budget review letter when preparing the 2022-23 proposed budget. As a result, certain significant revenue and expenditure projections in the 2022-23 proposed budget continue to be unreasonable. 

 

Chenango County Industrial Development Agency – Project Approval and Monitoring (2022M-10)  Although the board evaluated projects prior to approval, it did not adequately establish and document their evaluation and approval process. In addition, the board did not properly monitor the performance of businesses receiving financial benefits. 

 

Town of Dix – Justice Court Operations (Schuyler County) The justices did not ensure all collections were properly collected, recorded, deposited, reported and remitted in a timely and accurate manner, or that all adjudicated cases were reported. They did not provide adequate oversight of the clerk or ensure she was properly trained. Neither the justices nor the clerk prepared monthly accountabilities to ensure that all collections were accurately accounted for, and discrepancies could be promptly identified. As a result, recording and reporting errors occurred, causing the court to owe the Office of the State Comptroller’s Justice Court Fund (JCF) $21,204, victims $1,701 and defendants $439. 

 

Town of North Greenbush – Town Clerk (Rensselaer County) The clerk did not record, deposit, disburse or report all money collected in a timely and accurate manner. As of Dec. 31, 2015, more than $16,000 in cash was collected but not deposited. In 2016, over $13,500 in cash was deposited but not recorded. Remittances to the supervisor were late ranging from one to four months after due. The clerk also did not perform monthly accountabilities to ensure sufficient assets to cover liabilities.  

 

 

Ontario County Four Seasons Development Corporation – Procurement (2021M-197) Corporation officials did not always seek competition or maintain adequate documentation of purchasing processes when procuring goods and services. Auditors reviewed payments totaling $305,033 to nine vendors and found officials made purchases from two vendors totaling $58,375 without seeking competition. Auditors reviewed payments totaling $298,044 to 13 professional services vendors and found officials did not follow a competitive process when selecting two professional service providers, paid a total of $40,253, and did not document the rationale for the process that was followed.

 

Village of Port Jefferson – Justice Court Operations (Suffolk County) The justices did not provide adequate oversight of court operations. As a result, errors and irregularities were found in the court’s records. Bank records provided by the senior court clerk were altered and there was a cash shortage of $2,096. The senior court clerk deposited 12 personal checks totaling $2,096 in place of missing cash and deposited receipts totaling $6,525 into a neighboring village’s bank account and transferred it back two months later without notifying the justices. These findings were referred to outside law enforcement for review.  

 

Village of Sherman – Treasurer’s Cash Receipts (Chautauqua County)  The former treasurer did not record and deposit collections in an accurate manner. The board did not provide adequate oversight of the treasurer and did not annually audit the former treasurer’s records and reports. The former treasurer did not deposit more than $20,000 in recorded real property taxes, water, sewer and general fund receipts collected during the period July 1, 2012, through August 3, 2016. The board and village officials did not establish adequate written policies and procedures over the cash receipt collection process.   

 

Village of Suffern – Budget Review (Rockland County) Auditors found that significant revenue and expenditure estimates in the tentative budget were reasonable, and the village’s tentative budget includes a tax levy of $12,029,454, which is within the limit established by law.

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