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Alan Hevesi
Hank Morris, Dan Hevesi Named In NM Lawsuit
May 7th - 6:28 pm
Disgraced former political consultant Hank Morris and Dan Hevesi, an ex-state senator and son of jailed former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi, are named in pay-to-play pension fund lawsuits brought by a New Mexico government agency, the AP reports.
The suits, filed in state and federal courts by State Investment Council, claims the agency’s onetime top manager, Gary Bland, and the Dallas-based financial advisory firm Aldus Equity Partners improperly steered investments to political supporters of former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Dan Hevesi was one of several placement agents on a New Mexico investment deal.
Aldus Equity’s founding partner, Saul Meyer pleaded guilty in October 2009 to fraud for his role in the New York pension fund scandal.
At the time, then-AG Andrew Cuomo branded Meyer “a corrupted gatekeeper.” Meyer pleaded guilty to charges that he paid over $300,000 in bogus finders fees to Morris in exchange for $375 million worth of investments in Aldus private equity funds between 2004 and 2006.
In 2007, investigators subpoenaed records from a financial business owned by Dan Hevesi, who is Alan Hevesi’s eldest son, but no charges were ever brought against him.
Last fall, the Times reported Alan Hevesi had agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge for his role in the pension fund mess in order to protect Dan Hevesi and also his younger son, Assemblyman Andy Hevesi.
Alan Hevesi pleaded guilty last October and was sentenced in April to one to four years in prison – the maximum penalty possible.
Morris was sentenced in February to up to four years behind bars.
NYPIRG Offers Window Into Pension Investments
Apr 29th - 11:00 am
As Gov. Andrew Cuomo seeks tighter rules for lobbying and favor-currying before the state’s pension fund, the New York Public Interest Research Group has compiled a list of the 265 companies that have invested in the pension fund along with how much they’ve spent lobbying the state last year.
The companies spent $31.9 million lobbying the state in 2010. The fund invests about 44 percent, or $26.8 billion, in the companies.
The state retirement fund is one of the largest pension systems in the country. At the same time, the companies spent $2.5 million cumulatively on lobbying state officials. The companies include a who’s who of major firms, banks and insurance companies.
From NYPIRG:
As the public discussion unfolds about what role, if any, lobbying should play in investment decisions, this information provides a window into the resources deployed and the potential influence wielded by major players in the state’s pension fund.
Less than two weeks after former Comptroller Alan Hevesi went to jail for his role in a massive pay-to-play pension fund scandal, Cuomo proposed tight rules for the pension fund and a permanent ban on placement agents and a ban on director contributions to the comptroller from firms and companies that have business before the fund. Comptroller Tom DiNapoli had a ban on placement agents directly lobbying the office since 2009.
Hevesi was sentenced to 1-4 years in state prison after accepting millions in gifts in exchange for investments in the pension fund, a scandal that also included his political operative, Hank Morris.
New Hevesi Mug Released
Apr 19th - 4:17 pm
The state Department of Correctional Services this afternoon released a compelling and somewhat haunting mugshot of inmate 11-R-1334, also known as disgraced former comptroller Alan Hevesi.
He is currently serving 1-4 years in Ulster Correctional Facility in Napanoch. He was sentenced Friday in the massive pay-to-play pension fund scheme that also toppled his political advisor Hank Morris.
The sentencing of the 71-year-old Hevesi was delayed last month after the Democrat had reportedly taken ill and was sent to the hospital. Hevesi resigned in 2006 in the wake of allegations that he used a state employee to act as chauffeur for his wife.
Trump’s Democrat-Focused NYS Donations
Apr 19th - 10:19 am
NYPIRG’s Bill Mahoney provided this spreadsheet of Donald Trump’s campaign contributions to New York committees since 1999, noting the total – $595,636.66 – is close to the amount he has given at the federal level since 1990 ($708,500).
There have been several reports now about The Donald’s habit of doling out dollars to D.C. Democrats – everyone from Sen. Chuck Schumer to Rep. Charlie Rangel has been on the receiving end of his checks.
The list of state-level candidates to whom Trump has handed out include scandal-scarred state Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who was sentenced last week to up to four years behind bars; former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned his post in the wake of a prostitution scandal and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
He has given cash to Republicans, too, including former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, who is still fighting his conviction on federal corruption charges.
Mahoney also points out another bit of NYS-related Trump trivia: The $250,000 fine on Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts in 2000 is the second largest civil penalty fine ever imposed by the state lobby commissions. (The largest was $300,000 levied against the Correctional Services Corporation in 2003, as per this PIC report).
Top NYS recipients of Trump’s political money over the past 12 years are as follows:
- State Democratic Party (Housekeeping and Reporting), $116,000.
- SRCC (Housekeeping and Reporting), $83,000.
- Gov. Cuomo, $64,000.
- Hevesi, $45,000.
- Spitzer $41,000.
- DSCC (Housekeeping and Reporting), $35,600.00
- Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice, $32,500.
- Former Westchester County DA/2006 US Senate and then AG candidate, Jeanine Pirro, $20,000.
- AG Eric Schneiderman, $12,500.
- Joseph Bruno, $12,500.
Hevesi’s Prosecutors: Sentence Fits Crime (Update)
Apr 15th - 11:12 am
The two men who oversaw prosecution of the pay-to-play pension fund scandal that resulted in former comptroller Alan Hevesi’s jail sentence today both said the penalty should serve as a warning against other public officials seeking favors and gifts while in office.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who as attorney general investigated and successfully had Hevesi plead guilty just before taking office as governor said the punishment shows public corruption will not to be tolerated.
“Public integrity was my top priority as New York Attorney General and it is as Governor. For government to work, it must have the trust of the people. Those who hold public office must safeguard that trust, and those who violate their oath must incur just punishment. It is a new day in Albany and the old way of doing business will not be tolerated.
Cuomo successfully prosecuted eight people in the pension-fund scandal, including political consultant Hank Morris and Hevesi’s chief investment officer, David Loglisci. In addition to recovering $170 million, Cuomo fined the high-powered lobbying firm run by Patricia Lynch for $500,000 and banned her from appearing before the comptroller’s office for five years.
Update: A reader points out that it’s also fair to mention political consulting firm Global Strategy was hit with an even larger, $2 million fine for its role in the scandal, as was Quadrangle LLC, which was fined $7 million; GKM Newport Generation Capital Services, LLC was fined the equivalent of $1.6 million; California lobbying firm Platinum Advisors was fined $500,000; and unlicensed placement agent Kevin McCabe, $715,000.
Schneiderman, who inherited the case from Cuomo, successfully recommended the maximum penalty for Hevesi. In his statement, Schneiderman said the punishment fit the crime.
“Today, Alan Hevesi was appropriately punished for abusing his position as New York’s Comptroller,” Schneiderman said. “Hevesi brazenly sold access to New York Pension Fund investments—a betrayal of the public trust that went to the heart of his duties as Comptroller. Today’s sentencing decision will help achieve my office’s principal objective of restoring New Yorkers’ faith in their state government. I’d like to thank Governor Cuomo and his team in the Attorney General’s Office for their work on this matter.”
Hevesi Sentenced 1 To 4 Years In Prison (Updated)
Apr 15th - 10:37 am
Disgraced former Comptroller Alan Hevesi was sentenced this morning received the maximum penalty — one to four years in prison — for his role in a massive pay-to-play pension scandal.
The sentencing had been postponed multiple times after Hevesi was hospitalized for poor health.
Disgraced former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi was lead out of court in handcuffs today, after being sentenced from one to four years in prison for felony corruption charges.
Hevesi, who admitted to a role in influence peddling at the state pension fund, was supposed to be in court the week before, but was hospitalized for a medical procedure.
His attorneys asked for leniency, saying their 71-year-old client is in poor health.
Hevesi pleaded guilty last October to his role in a pension-fund scandal that engulfed nearly every aspect of Albany’s political culture — ensnaring lobbyist, political consultants and politicians. He had previously resigned in 2006 after an investigation found a state employee doubled as a chauffer for his wife.
Hevesi admitted to receiving free travel in exchange for a sweetheart $250 million pension fund investment.
His successor at the comptroller’s office, Tom DiNapoli, who has gone to pains to distance himself from the scandal by banning the use of “placement agents” in the office, said the pay-to-play culture “won’t be tolerated.”
Today’s sentencing of Alan Hevesi is a welcome and just conclusion to a years-long saga. Mr. Hevesi betrayed the trust of all New Yorkers. His sentence is clear evidence that this type of criminal behavior will not be tolerated.
Since taking office, I have changed the way the pension fund does business so history cannot repeat itself. I have banned placement agents and pay-to-play practices, and I have increased transparency in pension fund transactions. But there is more that can be done.
The punishment for breaking the law while performing a public duty must include pension forfeiture and increased fines and sentencing. The pension forfeiture bill I proposed earlier this year would do just that. No public official who violates the public trust should be allowed to receive a taxpayer-funded pension. Passage of my bill would be a
much-needed step in rebuilding the public’s confidence in its government.
The Alan Hevesi Sentencing Memo (Updated)
Mar 30th - 1:05 pm
Here’s the sentencing memo referenced in today’s DN story on disgraced former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi’s plea for leniency in which he admits to behavior that was “wrong, stupid and improper.”
The 71-year-old Hevei’s own letter to state Supreme Court Justice Bart Stone is “Exhibit A.” In it, he expresses remorse that he “failed to live up to the trust of all New Yorkers and destroyed my reputation,” adding:
“I have also humiliated myself and made my family suffer…I want Your Honor to know that I am sorry. It is with great humility that I simply ask for Your Honor to render that tempers justice with mercy, a sentence that takes into consideration my life as a whole and not simply my misconduct and failings as Comptroller of the State of New York.”
The memo also inclues a number of heatfelt letters from Hevesi’s friends, family and rabbi, including his sons, former Sen. Dan Hevesi and Assemblyman Andy Hevesi, who were both implicated in and/or impacted by their father’s pay-to-play pension fund scandal.
Earlier this week, Stone refused to withdraw from Hevesi’s case and rejected allegations that he has a conflict of interest involving a relationship with the parents of the former comptroller’s attorney. However, Stone, who accepted Hevesi’s initial guilty plea, did transfer the case to another judge for sentencing and set a new court date for April 4.
UPDATE: A reader with a longer memory than mine noted some discrepencies in the Hevesi memo. His observations appear after the jump.
Hevesi Sentence Postponed, AG Seeks Max Penalty
Mar 28th - 11:19 am
Sentencing for disgraced former state comptroller Alan Hevesi has been postponed. A source tells NY1′ s Josh Robin that Hevesi is undergoing a routine medical procedure, but is “ok.”
Hevesi was originally scheduled to be sentenced today for his role in influence-peddling at the state pension fund. The case has been transferred to another judge, and the next court date is April 4.
Josh also reports that state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is asking the judge for the maximum sentence of four years against the 71-year-old Democrat.
He pleaded guilty in October to accepting campaign contributions and free travel in exchange for investing state pension money with a certain firm.
Hevesi’s lawyer had asked the judge to recuse himself due to conflict of interest. The judge called the issue “meritless,” but transferred the case nonetheless.
DiNapoli: Morris Sentence ‘Fitting’
Feb 17th - 4:23 pm
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli a statement on this morning’s sentencing of political consultant Hank Morris for his role in the pay-to-play pension fund scandal, basically using this as an opportunity to put some more distance between himself and his predecessor (and Morris’ longtime client), Alan Hevesi.
“Hank Morris has received a fitting sentence. Jail time should help serve as a deterrent for anyone looking to rip off the state pension fund,” DiNapoli said.
“Since taking office, I’ve worked hard to restore faith in the Office of the State Comptroller after the abuses of the Hevesi administration. I banned placement agents so that corrupt middlemen could never again run the type of pay-to-play scheme that Mr. Morris did.”
“We must ensure that the pension fund is protected against this kind of criminal behavior.”
“Last month, I proposed a bill that would strip convicted former public officials of their pensions. Public officials who commit a felony related to their duties shouldn’t be rewarded. There are better ways to spend New York’s tax dollars than to support retired felons who ripped off the public.”
For the record, Morris was never an elected official or a public employee (at least not to my knowledge), and therefore doesn’t have a pension.
Hevesi, on the other hand, has a rather sizable pension – $105,221 a year – from his days as an assemblyman, NYC comptroller and state comptroller.
Hevesi pleaded guilty last October to a felony corrution charge and could face between 16 months and four years in prison. He was supposed to be sentenced in December, but that was postponed until March.
We have yet to hear whether AG Eric Schneiderman will demand prison time for Hevesi like he did for Morris.
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