Defendant Allegedly Stole $38,345 in Salary to Which He Was Not Entitled
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Department of
Investigation of Commissioner Mark G. Peters, today announced that the former District
Manager of Community Board 6, which includes Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, and
Park Slope, was arraigned today on a 17-count indictment in which he is charged with forgery
and other charges for forging signatures on four occasions to give himself raises without
approval or authorization.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant allegedly sought to enrich himself with
taxpayer money to which he was not entitled. This was a betrayal of the public trust that cannot
be tolerated. I remain committed to rooting out crimes such as this that can carry a heavy cost
over the long term. We will now seek to hold this defendant accountable.”
Commissioner Peters said, “This defendant gave himself multiple raises, including a
merit increase, and falsified his manager’s authorization to get them approved by the City,
according to the charges. New Yorkers expect – and deserve – public servants serving their
communities with integrity that is beyond reproach. DOI will continue to pursue those City
workers criminally who take advantage of taxpayers and steal City funds. We thank our partners
at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office for their collaboration on this investigation.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Craig Hammerman, 53, of Fort Greene,
Brooklyn. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on an
indictment in which he is charged with four counts of second-degree forgery, four counts of
second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, four counts of first-degree offering a
false instrument for filing, four counts of first-degree falsifying business records and one count
of third-degree grand larceny. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted of the top count.
He was released without bail and ordered to return to court on August 8, 2018.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, between May 2015 and
October 2017, the defendant, who was the District Manager of Community Board 6 (CB 6),
allegedly forged the signature of Community Board Chairman Sayar Lonial three times and forged the signature of former Community Board Chairman Gary Reilly one time to give himself
unauthorized raises.
The forgery was discovered by CB 6 during an internal investigation in September 2017,
and the matter was referred to the Department of Investigation. A subsequent investigation by
DOI and the DA’s office revealed a series of forged letters authorizing salary increases. A letter
dated October 2016, which was sent to the office of the Brooklyn Borough President, authorized
a raise for Hammerman and contained Lonial’s forged signature. A second letter dated March
2017 was sent to the Office of Management and Budget authorizing a salary increase for
Hammerman and contained Lonial’s forged signature. This document was accompanied by
supporting documentation, referred to as a Planned Action Report, which also contained Lonial’s
forged signature. A third letter was discovered, dated May 2015, which authorized a raise for
Hammerman and contained the signature of Gary Reilly, who was, at the time, the Chairman of
CB 6. A representative of the Brooklyn Borough President’s office, which processes salary
increases for CB 6 employees, calculated that Hammerman received $38,345 in salary that he
was not entitled to as a result of his alleged fraud.
Hammerman’s salary was $121,931 when he resigned in October 2017.
The case was investigated by Special Investigator Beatriz Solorzano, of the New York
City Department of Investigation, under the supervision of Inspector General Andrew Sein,
Associate Commissioner Andrew Brunsden, Deputy Commissioner/Chief of Investigations
Susan Lambiase, and First Deputy Commissioner Lesley Brovner.
The District Attorney thanked the Office of Borough President Eric L. Adams for its
cooperation in this investigation.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt
