Pensions revoked
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has removed two Long
Island attorneys from the state retirement system and rescinded some pension
credits of an accountant from Long Island after finding the three had been
improperly reported as public employees, spokesman Dennis Tompkins said
yesterday.
The action affects Franklin Square school attorney William Cullen and, for
the first time, two people reported as employees of a special district -
attorney Nat Swergold and accountant Salvatore Evola of Sanitation District No.
1 in Lawrence.
The action follows a series of Newsday stories detailing how private
attorneys - already paid thousands of dollars in legal fees - were able to get
into the state retirement system by being improperly reported as public
employees. Newsday also has reported on the generous salaries and benefits paid
to employees of special districts in Nassau County.
Since the stories, the state attorney general, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, Internal Revenue Service and Nassau district attorney all have
launched criminal and civil investigations.
"We are moving forward, case by case," DiNapoli said in a statement.
The comptroller also took action yesterday against three upstate attorneys,
revoking the retirement system membership of two and taking away some pension
credits from a third. None of those affected by the action have begun
collecting pensions.
The state comptroller's office would not estimate the amount of pensions
the six individuals would have received, but they are believed to be tens of
thousands of dollars annually.
Swergold and Cullen each plan to fight DiNapoli's decision.
Swergold, 72, who was criticized in a 2005 Nassau comptroller's audit for
being paid as both a public employee and a consultant, had accrued nearly 36
years in the retirement system.
"Is a convicted felon entitled to greater protection than Nat Swergold?" he
said of himself, referring to a Newsday story Tuesday about former Roslyn
Superintendent Frank Tassone, who is collecting an annual $173,495 state
pension while in prison for embezzling $2.2 million from the district. "This is
craziness."
Cullen's attorney, Kevin Keating of Garden City, said his client, too,
would fight the action.
"Bill Cullen is fully entitled to the service credits, and we will be
fighting this," Keating said.
Cullen, 56, will lose approximately 18 years of pension credits. He
recently sent a letter to the comptroller asking to withdraw from the pension
system, but Keating said he wrote it only to avoid the appearance of
impropriety and as a reaction to "adverse publicity."
Evola, 42, has accrued nearly 20 years of credits but will lose 9.7 years,
Tompkins said. His employment status was also criticized in the county
comptroller's audit.
Records show Evola has been employed by the Village of Cedarhurst,
Sanitation District No. 1, Island Park School District and Inwood Fire District
at the same time. He also worked as a partner in a private accounting firm.
Evola said he has left the Island Park School District and no longer maintains
his private practice.
Upstate, the comptroller revoked the pension membership of attorneys Maria
Massaro, 39, of Niagara Falls, and M. Cornelia Cahill, 51, of Schenectady. The
office also rescinded some pension credits of attorney Maureen Harris, 38, of
Slingerlands.
Harris, a former partner of the influential Albany law firm of Girvin and
Ferlazzo, couldn't be reached for comment. Although she is losing one year of
credit she got through the Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES, she will keep
credits she has earned as a commissioner of the New York State Public Service
Commission, Tompkins said.
Cahill and Massaro couldn't be reached for comment.
Newsday previously reported that Harris and Cahill are under investigation
by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has criminal jurisdiction, for
possibly improperly obtaining pension credits from an upstate BOCES district.
In addition, the paper has reported that Cullen has been offered a settlement
of his case by Cuomo's office.
Staff writer Robert Kessler contributed to this story.
THREE LOSE BENEFITS
WILLIAM CULLEN, 56, Lloyd Harbor private attorney
He was reported as full-time by Franklin Square schools (until February
2008); part- time by Brentwood library (until February 2008); part-time for
Half Hollow Hills library (until 2002).
Action: Revoked retirement system membership; lost 18.2 years of pension
credits.
NAT SWERGOLD, 72, Woodbury
private attorney
He was reported as full-time by Sanitation District No. 1 in Lawrence since
July 1972.
Action: Revoked retirement system membership; lost 35.7 years of pension
credits.
SALVATORE EVOLA, 42, Woodmere.
accountant/treasurer
He was reported as full-time by Village of Cedarhurst, since 2003;
part-time by Inwood Fire District, since 1999; part-time by Island Park school
district from 2001 to 2006 and part-time by Sanitation District No. 1 since
1995.
Action: Lost 9.7 years of pension credits (reported by the sanitation
district.)
