Pages

Rabu, 08 Juni 2011

coruptor

Accord With Comptroller Will Help Attorney General Pursue Corruption Cases
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE
Published: May 22, 2011
• Recommend
• Twitter
• Sign In to E-Mail
• Print
• Single Page


Reprints
• ShareClose
o Linkedin
o Digg
o MySpace
o Permalink
o

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and Thomas P. DiNapoli, the state comptroller, have entered into an agreement that will grant Mr. Schneiderman powers to criminally prosecute corruption involving taxpayer money, significantly expanding the attorney general’s authority to pursue public integrity cases.
Enlarge This Image

Katie Orlinsky for The New York Times
Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, left, and Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman are collaborating on public integrity.
Under the agreement, the comptroller and the attorney general will establish a joint task force on public integrity. Mr. Schneiderman’s prosecutors will work with Mr. DiNapoli’s investigators and auditors looking into legislative earmarks, state pensions and government contracts.
But in a twist, Mr. DiNapoli has also agreed to employ a little-known provision of state law to refer any findings from joint investigations to Mr. Schneiderman for criminal prosecution.
“We’ll coordinate our respective roles to uncover and prosecute government waste, fraud and abuse,” Mr. DiNapoli said in a statement. “This is a powerful message: New York’s two independently elected oversight officials are partnering together to ensure integrity and accountability to every level of government in New York State.
The arrangement could make it easier for Mr. Schneiderman to investigate and root out certain kinds of public corruption than past attorneys general. And it comes as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is seeking more aggressive and independent enforcement of state ethics laws and broader disclosure of lawmakers’ outside employment.
“It could be a very effective approach,” said Eric R. Dinallo, who headed the securities bureau in the attorney general’s office under Eliot Spitzer and was later superintendent of the State Insurance Department. “If you can’t get legislative relief around ethics issues in government and you’re trying to get jurisdiction, sometimes the law has all the jurisdiction you need — if you look at it in a creative way.”
The agreement between Mr. Schneiderman and Mr. DiNapoli has significant limits: The attorney general will still lack standing to investigate allegations of criminal violations of election law, or to investigate the Legislature for offenses unrelated to the expenditure of state money, like a lawmaker’s failure to disclose outside income. Mr. Cuomo is hoping to increase scrutiny in some of those areas through a comprehensive ethics deal with the Legislature; failing that, he could appoint an investigative commission under the state Moreland Act, though such a commission would be unable to bring criminal prosecutions.
But the new joint task force will give Mr. Schneiderman powerful legal tools to tackle a host of other problems that have sullied New York government in recent years: pension padding, no-show jobs, abuse of legislative earmarks, and fraud at the state’s secretive public authorities.
“Expanding the attorney general’s power to prosecute public corruption will be a major element of our comprehensive approach,” Mr. Schneiderman said in a statement.
Under the agreement, which was reached last week, Mr. Schneiderman subpoenaed a local development corporation in Monroe County and its prime contractor over a $224 million upgrade of the county’s emergency communications system. Some local Democratic officials have criticized the project, approved in 2009 by the Republican county executive and Republican-controlled County Legislature, alleging secrecy and potential conflicts of interest.
Mr. Schneiderman’s subpoenas were accompanied by a notice from Mr. DiNapoli’s office, informing officials of an impending audit.
Under state law, the attorney general cannot unilaterally investigate public officials for breaking campaign finance rules, violating ethics laws or even taking bribes. As a result, major investigations of New York officials in recent years have been conducted chiefly by district attorneys or federal prosecutors with jurisdiction over bribery, kickbacks, and other criminal forms of corruption.
Attorneys general have been able to pursue some corruption cases. Mr. Cuomo, for example, investigated the state pension fund and Pedro Espada Jr., the former state senator from the Bronx, using laws that give the attorney general jurisdiction over securities fraud and charities. Mr. Cuomo sought legislation to expand the attorney general’s criminal powers to investigate other forms of political corruption but was rebuffed by the Legislature.

0 komentar:

Posting Komentar

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More