Cuomo's state pension investigation expands

BY ROBERT E. KESSLER | robert.kessler@newsday.com

9:05 PM EDT, April 14, 2008

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's investigation into the possibly improper awarding of state pensions to attorneys for school districts has escalated sharply, and now includes a host of other professionals who may also have received state pension credits, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

These professionals range from accountants, auditors, architects, engineers and labor consultants to physicians, the sources said.

The type of governmental bodies involved also has expanded from school districts and a few other Nassau governmental districts to encompass more than 4,000 local bodies statewide, including towns, villages and 10 counties, including Nassau and Suffolk, the sources said.

While the attorney general is seeking information on pensions, he is also asking for information for all professionals on whether health benefits were improperly awarded, the sources said.

In addition, Cuomo is asking for information on the financial relationship between the districts and the firms the professionals worked for.

A copy of the letters obtained by Newsday that are being sent out to the 4,000 governmental bodies -- as well as school districts statewide -- requests information on all professionals "reported to the New York State Retirement System by your government or district, as either full- or part-time employees and also were employees of ... another firm, that had a contract ... to provide professional services to your government or district."

Cuomo began his investigation into school districts in February, following reports in Newsday.

When asked Monday about the new scope of the investigation, Cuomo's spokesman, John Milgrim, declined to comment.

In addition to Nassau and Suffolk, the other counties involved are Westchester, Broome, Chautauqua, Erie, Monroe, Onondaga, Orange and Oneida.

Asked to comment on the newest phase in the investigation, the attorney for Lawrence Reich, one of the school district lawyers Newsday has reported as already being under investigation by the attorney general's office, said that when the probe is done, the attorney general will have found that nothing criminal occurred.

The attorney, Peter Tomao, of Garden City, said he had traced the practice back to the 1960s, and it had been approved in the past by a number of public officials.