Schneiderman: Huntley, cronies ran sham nonprofit

The following report was written by Casey Seiler of the Times Union:

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said that the indictment of state Sen. Shirley Huntley for her alleged role in an attempt to cover up the theft of almost $30,000 in public funds through a ?sham nonprofit? emerged from his office?s year-old collaboration with state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.

In a press conference Monday afternoon, Schneiderman displayed a reproduction of a ?template? letter allegedly drawn up by Huntley and others to make it seem as if the nonprofit Parent Workshop Inc., which received $30,000 in member item funds requested by the Queens Democrat, had provided programming to the Southern Queens Park Association when no such services had been provided.

Huntley created Parent Workshop in March 2006, and secured the member item in May 2008.

Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson issued the following statement: ?With the filings of today?s charges, I have removed Senator Huntley from her committee ranking and leadership positions, effective immediately.?

Huntley has, however, already received this year?s $9,000 stipend as the ranking Democrat on the chamber?s Mental Health Committee. (A quarter of these lulus are paid in March; the remainder goes out after the budget is passed ? which this year was also in March.)

Schneiderman said the investigation was ongoing, and suggested similar actions were in the pipeline as a result of his unique arrangement with DiNapoli on public integrity cases. ?There is more firepower being brought to bear on this issue than there has been,? he said, pointing to federal as state prosecutors and watchdog entities.

Huntley, who on Saturday declared her innocence, appeared Monday morning at Nassau County courthouse under a superceding indictment that added to last year?s action against four people, including a Huntley staffer and the senator?s niece. Today?s 20-count indictment charges the senator with conspiracy, a misdemeanor, and two felonies: tampering with physical evidence and falsifying business records.

A felony conviction would result in Huntley?s automatic ejection from the Legislature.

Re-named in the new indictment was Huntley?s niece Lynn Smith, who served as the non-profit?s treasurer; its president Patricia Savage, a Huntley aide; and David Gantt, a New York City Housing Authority official who the indictment says served as a ?consultant? for Parent Workshop.

Conspicuous in his absence from the new superceding indictment is Roger Scotland, who the December press release from the AG?s office identifies thusly:

Defendent Roger N. Scotland, the President of the Southern Queens Park Association, a separate nonprofit corporation located in Queens, also created a false record in an attempt to hide the theft from investigators. Mr. Scotland is charged with Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, Tampering with Physical Evidence, and conspiracy to engage in those crimes.

The new indictment makes no mention of Scotland, though its description of the creation of the letter from the Southern Queens Park Association refers to an unnamed ?witness known to the Grand Jury? who created the bogus missive allegedly at the request of Huntley and Savage.

The AG?s office said the case against Scotland is ?still pending.?

Click here to see the AG?s full release:

Source: http://capitalbusinessblog.bcnys.org/index.php/2012/08/schneiderman-huntley-cronies-ran-sham-nonprofit/

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