This Week: DiNapoli Audit Finds Lapses in Treatment Under Kendra’s Law

 

DiNapoli Audit Finds Lapses in

Treatment Under Kendra’s Law

The State’s Office of Mental Health (OMH) needs to do a better job of overseeing court-ordered treatment for individuals under Kendra’s Law to ensure that needed services are delivered in a timely manner, according to an audit by State Comptroller DiNapoli.

“Kendra’s Law was enacted to ensure that those with severe mental illness get treatment to prevent them harming themselves or others,” DiNapoli said. “In many instances, the program is working, but when there are lapses, the consequences can be fatal as our audit shows. OMH should implement our recommendations to improve the administration of Kendra’s Law at a time when we’re facing a serious mental health crisis.”

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DiNapoli Op-Ed: We Should Be Teaching Financial Literacy in NY's High Schools

Newsday on Monday published an op-ed from New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and New York State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa, which highlighted how teaching students personal finance, budgeting, and investing would better equip them to make important financial decisions in the future that could impact their long-term financial success and quality of life.

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State Contract and Payment Actions in December

In December, the Office of the State Comptroller approved 2,332 contracts for State agencies and public authorities valued at $75.6 billion and approved nearly 1.8 million payments worth more than $15.6 billion. The Office rejected 212 contracts and related transactions valued at $15.4 billion and nearly 1,800 payments valued at nearly $12.6 million, primarily for mistakes, insufficient support for charges, and improper payments. More information on these contracts and payments is available at Open Book New York.

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Local Sales Taxes Grew 4.2% to $23 Billion in 2023

Local government sales tax collections in New York State totaled $23 billion in calendar year 2023, up 4.2%, or $919 million, from 2022, largely influenced by growth in New York City sales taxes, according to a report released by State Comptroller DiNapoli.

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Former Town Clerk Pleads Guilty to Stealing Nearly $4,000 From Town of Lincoln

State Comptroller DiNapoli, Chenango County District Attorney Michael Ferrarese, and the New York State Police announced the plea and sentence of Amy Becker, former Clerk for the Town of Lincoln, for stealing nearly $4,000 from the Town. The plea was the result of a joint investigation between Comptroller DiNapoli’s Office, the Chenango County District Attorney’s Office, and the New York State Police. As part of the plea agreement she paid full restitution in the amount of $3,869.

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NY State Comptroller Announces Appointment of Emerging Managers Director

State Comptroller DiNapoli announced the appointment of Sylvester (Sly) McClearn as director of the New York State Common Retirement Fund’s Emerging Manager Program. He was appointed Interim Director of the Program in February 2023.

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Municipal & School Audits

• Garrison Union Free School District
• Town of Marion
• Village of Washingtonville
• Willsboro Central School District 

ALSO IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK

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• Audit Finds Fatal Lapses in Mental Health Program Meant to Curb Violence

• ‘I’ve learned a lot of valuable things’: Akron High School teaches financial literacy
  
  
• NY Comptroller: State child labor investigations lag in NYC as cases pile up
  
  

• Former clerk admits stealing from town

• New York Sales Tax Collections Up, Fueled by Spending in NYC

• N.Y. State Common takes interim tag off emerging managers program director

• NYS Comptroller: Marion Justices lacked oversight in theft of $59k by former clerk

Post of the Week
Tom DiNapoli @NYSComptroller 

Attorney General James Expands Lawsuit Against Cryptocurrency Company Digital Currency Group For Defrauding Investors

 

DCG and affiliate Genesis Defrauded Additional Investors Out of More Than $2 Billion

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed an amended complaint, expanding the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) lawsuit against Digital Currency Group, Inc. (DCG), DCG’s CEO, Barry Silbert, and Genesis Global Capital, LLC and its affiliates’ (Genesis) former CEO, Soichiro Moro, for defrauding additional individuals and institutions of an additional $2 billion. This amended complaint is the result of more investors coming forward following Attorney General James’ October 2023 suit against Gemini Trust Company (Gemini), Genesis and DCG for misleading representations to investors about an investment program called Gemini Earn and causing over $1 billion in losses. The OAG’s continued investigation revealed that these additional investors were similarly defrauded and provided with false assurances that their funds were safe when in fact they were not, leading to an additional $2 billion in assets that were lost. In total, OAG found that these companies defrauded more than 230,000 investors out of more than $3 billion.

“After months of false promises, we pulled the curtain back and revealed that DCG was lying to investors and defrauding them out of billions,” said Attorney General James. “The fraud and deceit were so expansive that many additional people have come forward to report similar harm. This illegal cryptocurrency scheme, and the horrific financial losses that real people have suffered, are yet another reminder of why stronger cryptocurrency regulations are needed to protect all investors.”

In October 2023, Attorney General James filed a sweeping lawsuit against cryptocurrency companies Gemini, Genesis, and DCG for defrauding investors out of more than $1 billion. This suit was the result of an OAG investigation that found that Gemini lied to investors about an investment program it ran with Genesis called Gemini Earn. Gemini repeatedly assured investors that investing with Genesis through their Gemini Earn program was a low-risk investment. However, the OAG investigation uncovered that Gemini’s internal analyses of Genesis showed that the company’s financials were risky. Additionally, OAG found that after losing more than $1.1 billion on loan defaults, Genesis, DCG, and their executives tried to conceal their losses by entering into a $1.1 billion promissory note, in which DCG agreed to pay Genesis $1.1 billion in a decade at only a one percent interest rate. The lawsuit states that DCG, through Genesis, used the promissory note as part of a scheme to defraud investors and the public about Genesis’ financial condition and its ability to operate its business.

Since that lawsuit was filed, additional investors have come forward to share their experiences and their losses due to the scam perpetrated by DCG through Genesis. While the initial suit focused largely on the losses of retail investors participating in the Gemini Earn investment program, as more complaints have been made, it became clear that the complicated nature of the fraud also swindled other investors who contributed their money directly to DCG’s affiliate Genesis. As a result of these complaints, OAG filed the amended complaint and is now seeking more than $3 billion in restitution for defrauded investors.  

Today’s amended lawsuit is the latest action taken by Attorney General James to rein in the cryptocurrency industry and protect investors. Attorney General James announced sweeping cryptocurrency legislation that will increase regulations of the cryptocurrency industry to protect New York investors. In October 2023, Attorney General James filed the initial complaint against Gemini, Genesis, and DCG for defrauding investors and perpetrating a scam. In June 2023, Attorney General James recovered more than $1.7 million from CoinEx for failing to register as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and for falsely representing itself as a crypto exchange. In May 2023, Attorney General James secured $4.3 million from Coin Cafe for failing to register as a commodity broker-dealer and defrauding investors. In January 2023, Attorney General James and a multistate coalition recovered $24 million from the cryptocurrency platform Nexo for operating illegally. Attorney General James also sued the former CEO of Celsius for defrauding investors and concealing the company’s dire financial condition. In March 2022, Attorney General James issued a taxpayer notice to virtual currency investors and their tax advisors to accurately declare and pay taxes on their virtual investments.

In October 2021, Attorney General James directed unregistered crypto lending platforms to cease operations for not registering with the state. In September 2021, Attorney General James and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recovered $479.9 million from GTV Media for failing to register cryptocurrency sales. Also in September 2021, Attorney General James secured a $3 million court judgment against Coinseed. In February 2021, Attorney General James required Bitfinex and Tether to end all trading activity in New York and required iFinex and Tether and their related companies to pay $18.5 million in penalties.

Attorney General James urges New Yorkers who have been affected by deceptive conduct in virtual asset markets to report these issues to OAG. Attorney General James also encourages workers in the cryptocurrency industry who may have witnessed misconduct or fraud to file an online whistleblower complaint with her office, which can be done anonymously.