N.Y. Schools Lawyer-Pay Probe Expands to All Professionals in Gov't Work
An ever-expanding state probe by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo of possible pension irregularities now extends far beyond lawyers in private practice who worked for the state’s 700-plus school districts.
It now potentially encompasses, seemingly, virtually every professional who has worked for a state agency, and may also involve medical benefits, according to Newsday, which originally broke the story in February of a school district lawyer who had “worked” 1,286 days in a single year.
The professionals targeted in the ongoing investigation “range from accountants, auditors, architects, engineers and labor consultants to physicians,” the Long Island newspaper reports, relying on unnamed sources. “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.”
As discussed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, the state and federal agencies have been investigating 700 New York school districts since news reports that lawyers in private practice had been listed as employees in order to collect state pensions and other benefits.
At last report, 90 lawyers were accused of participating in what Cuomo describes as “”basically a payroll padding scheme.”
