Theft of retirement benefits discovered by the Comptroller’s Division of Investigations and the Social Security Administration

On July 11, 2023, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Ryan K. Buchanan and Inspector General for the Social Security Administration Gail S. Ennis announced that Sandra Smith, a resident of Georgia, has pleaded guilty to the federal crime of theft of government funds and must pay back $459,050 in New York state pension and Social Security payments that were issued to her deceased mother-in-law.

Smith pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of government funds. Under her plea agreement, she will pay $264,699 in restitution to the New York State's Employees'  Retirement System [ERS] and $194,351 to the Social Security Administration.

“Exploiting the death of a family member for personal profit is a heinous crime,” DiNapoli said. “The defendant took advantage of our state pension fund and the Social Security Administration but as a result of our joint investigation her crimes  were discovered. She now faces the consequences of her actions. My thanks to U.S. Attorney Buchanan and the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General [SSA-OIG] for their partnership in ensuring justice was served and restitution was made in this case.”

The defendant’s late-mother-in-law, Minnie Smith, was an employee of the New York State Insurance Fund for 20 years until retiring in 2005. To be closer to family, she later moved from Brooklyn to Georgia and passed away there on Sept. 14, 2006.

As her mother-in-law’s caretaker, Sandra Smith had access to her bank account, which she kept open after her mother-in-law’s death to enable the theft of  continued payments from the New York Employees' Retirement System and the Social Security Administration. The thefts were discovered and investigated by the Comptroller’s Division of Investigations and the SSA-OIG.

Smith, 49, pleaded before Judge Eleanor Ross of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

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Since taking office in 2007, DiNapoli has committed to fighting public corruption and encourages the public to help fight fraud and abuse. New Yorkers can report allegations of fraud involving taxpayer money by calling the toll-free Fraud Hotline at 1-888-672-4555, by filing a complaint online at https://www.osc.state.ny.us/investigations, or by mailing a complaint to: Office of the State Comptroller, Division of Investigations, 8th Floor, 110 State St., Albany, NY 12236.

 

Social media platform Threads launched

New York State public entities on the social media platform Threads with at least one post created in the first 24 hours of the launch of the platform.

Albany Public Library, Albany, New York, Library, Verified - No

NY State Parks, New York, Parks, Verified - Yes

City of New York, New York, New York, City, Verified - Yes

NYS Department of Labor, New York, Labor, Verified - Yes

Minnewaska State Park Preserve, New York, Parks, Verified - No

Westbury Union Free School District, Westbury, New York, Education, Verified - No

Jefferson County Public Health, New York, Public Health, Verified - No

Source: Threads • Updated July 6, 2023, by Nikki Davidson.

Link to Application: Threads

Recent decisions issued by the Commissioner of Education

Petitioners in this appeal to the Commissioner of Education alleged the Board of Education failed to hire a school resource officer [SRO] and seek the removal from the board its president and other, unspecified board members [Board]. The Commissioner dismissed the appeal and denied the application.

Petitioners asserted that the Board engaged in willful misconduct and neglect of duty by failing to expeditiously hire a second SRO and requested the Commissioner "remove the board president, and any other board member whose removal [the Commissioner] deems warranted, from office."

According to an affidavit submitted by the board president, “[b]etween June 16, 2022 and November 2022 … there were internal discussions as to where the money would come from to fund [a] second SRO.”  On November 16, 2022, the board rejected a resolution to “authorize the transfer of [funds] from [the] unassigned fund balance to the [SRO] budget code … to cover the cost of a second [SRO].” 

Following commencement of this appeal, the board announced that it had secured a grant to fund the second SRO position and thereafter approved a resolution “to allocate [funds] to cover the cost of the second [SRO] through [the end of the 2022-2023 school year].” 

The Board contended that the appeal should be dismissed for lack of standing, as moot, and for failure to join necessary parties. The Board also contended the appeal should be dismissed on the merits in that the Board acted in good faith with respect to the employment of a second SRO.

The Commissioner dismissed the appeal as moot, explaining that the Commissioner "will only decide matters in actual controversy and will not render a decision on a state of facts that no longer exists due to the passage of time or a change in circumstances."

Further, the Commissioner noted that a Commissioner of Education "may remove a school officer or member of a board of education from office when it is proven to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that the officer or board member has engaged in a willful violation or neglect of duty under the Education Law or has willfully disobeyed a decision, order, rule, or regulation of the Board of Regents or the Commissioner." The Commissioner then explained that to be considered willful, "the action of a board member or school officer must have been intentional and committed with a wrongful purpose."

The Commission opined that the record indicated that "the board did not immediately hire a second SRO in June 2022 due to the need to identify a funding stream for the position," and that the board president explained that “the [Board] determined that it would not be prudent to draw from [its] [u]nassigned [f]und [b]alance to pay for a contract that was not contemplated at the time the budget was prepared … the district’s budget is tight and does not allow for significant unbudgeted expenditures.”

Finding that Petitioners "have not proven that the board president engaged in any willful violation of the Education Law" the Commissioner held that "their application for his removal must therefore be denied."

Click HERE to access the decision of the Commissioner in this appeal posted on the Internet.

In addition, the Commissioner of Education recently issued four decisions addressing actions by Boards of Education involving residency and homelessness issues. 

Click on the text in color set out below to access these decisions posted on the Internet.

Decision No. 18,290

Decision No. 18,291

Decision No. 18,292

Decision No. 18,293

 

 

 

 

Right to privacy

New York Archives [Archives],* published quarterly by the Archives Partnership Trust, is an educational publication about New York State history as revealed by research in archival records maintained throughout the State of New York.

The Summer 2023 issue of  Archives includes an article concerning the decision in Roberson v Rochester Folding Box Company, 171 NY 538, [1902]. Roberson is said to be the genesis of New York States' initial privacy statute, "the earliest of its kind in the nation".

Click HERE to access a variety of postings on "YouTube" addressing the "Right to Privacy" via a link provided in this article published by Archives.

* https://www.nysarchivestrust.org/new-york-archives-magazine

Governments Jump on Threads

On July 10, 2023, GOVTECH TODAY reported that "Hundreds of Government Agencies Have Opened Threads Accounts within the first 24 hours of the social media platform’s launch." Many government agencies and officials are already active on the Twitter competitor Threads" noted GOVTECH TODAY and asked "Is it the future of social media?" Click to READ MORE .

GovTech Today also invites those interested to take "a deeper dive into cybersecurity in state and local government" with its weekly cyber newsletter. [Click to SUBSCRIBE].