Legal Ethics
N.Y. to Sue Private Lawyer ‘Employed’ By 6 School Districts for $2M Reimbursement
Posted Jun 22, 2009, 07:05 pm CST
By Martha Neil
A state and federal probe of claimed pension abuse by some New York lawyers in private practice has just heated up further.
New York's attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, says the state will sue a Long Island lawyer whose story sparked a statewide investigation for civil fraud, seeking reimbursement from Lawrence Reich of some $2 million in back salary, pension and health benefits, reports Newsday.
The 69-year-old Reich was in private practice, yet allegedly was falsely reported as a full-time employee of five school districts, resulting in a public pension of nearly $62,000, the newspaper recounts. A total of six school districts are claimed to have falsely reported him as an employee between 1978 and 2006.
The expected suit by Cuomo would be the first such case filed against a New York lawyer in the payroll and pension probe, according to Newsday.
However, Reich's lawyer, Peter Tomao, says his client did nothing wrong. "He is simply being prosecuted for things which had always been approved by multiple government agencies over many, many years," Tomao tells the newspaper.
Reich's situation came to light last year as a result of a Newsday investigation. Records show he collected more than $1.8 million in school district salary payments for his claimed employment while also being paid over $2.5 million in retainer fees in his private practice, the newspaper reports.
To date, according to Cuomo's office, the state has settled with 75 private professionals who had improperly obtained pension benefits for $1.7 million.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: "Feds and State Investigate N.Y. Lawyer Who ‘Worked’ 1,286 Days in a Year"
ABAJournal.com: "N.Y. Attorney Must Repay Pension from 5 School District Jobs"
ABAJournal.com: "Two N.Y. Lawyers Get Pension Tabs: $84K and $600K"
ABAJournal.com: "200 Letters Sent, Mostly to NY Lawyers, Whose Dual Service Raises ‘Red Flags’"
ABAJournal.com: "More NY Lawyers Settle in Pension Probe; $1.28M Recovered to Date by AG"
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