In New Report, Comptroller Stringer Calls for Commercial Bail Bonds to be Banned in New York City as Part of Larger Overhaul of Bail System

Use of commercial bail grew in NYC by double digits in last two years, even as crime and arrests fell

City now spends $100 million a year to lock up people too poor to make bail, including $10 million a year on people who ultimately post bail after short stays

Meanwhile, commercial bail bondsmen pocket $16 million to $27 million a year in nonrefundable fees, while those detained lose jobs and wages

  Even though crime, arrests, and jail admissions have fallen in the last two years, the use of commercial bail bonds grew by 12 percent and the total value of bond postings increased by 18 percent over that period, according to a new report released today by New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer. According to the report, commercial bail bonds now account for more than half of all bail postings in New York City. In the report, “The Public Cost of Private Bail: A Proposal to Ban Commercial Bail Bonds in NYC,” Comptroller Stringer calls for the total abolishment of commercial bail bonds in New York City, an industry that plays an unnecessary role as a middleman in the bail process, and which evidence shows contributes to needless short-term jail stays that serve no public safety purpose. Comptroller Stringer is calling for a change in state law to specifically ban private bail bonds in New York City, as has already been done by 4 states. Such a move would help reduce short-term jail stays at Rikers Island, and it would advance bail reform efforts both locally and nationally, as a powerful, intermediate step toward the ultimate elimination of monetary bail in the criminal justice system.

Commercial bail bonds are the most costly form of bail for taxpayers, defendants, and their families and loved ones. Unlike bail payments made directly to the courts, premiums paid to private bail bond companies are generally nonrefundable at the end of the case, even if the person appears at all court hearings. With relatively few people being able to make bail at arraignment, the widespread use of commercial bail bonds contributes to the tens of thousands of short-stay admissions to City jails that drive up costs for taxpayers.

According to the report, in the last year alone, the Comptroller’s Office estimates that the private bail bond industry extracted between $16 million and $27 million in nonrefundable fees from New York City defendants and their families. In addition, the Comptroller’s Office estimates that defendants detained because they are unable to pay bail lose $28 million in wages annually, exacerbating the already punitive consequences of New York City’s jail system, which hit communities of color and low-income New Yorkers the hardest. The Comptroller’s report found more than 80 percent of people who are put in jail because they cannot afford to post bail are Black or Hispanic and 40 percent are under 30 years old.

The Comptroller’s report notes that some bail bond providers may collect fees above the legally permitted amount or fail to return collateral as required under contract. Additionally, private bail bond operators may file bonds with the court late, leading to unnecessary delays in a defendant’s release, even after a contract has been signed and all the required fees have been paid and collateral has been posted.

“This is about right and wrong, and it’s about justice. No one should be incarcerated simply because they lack the ability to pay bail, but that’s exactly what’s happening to New Yorkers, particularly in communities of color. The private operators who profit off this backwards system should be put out of business – that’s how we begin to reverse decades of short-sighted criminal justice policies,” said New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer. “We need to turn the page on a system that punishes people just because they’re low-income and pads the pockets of private actors. In effect, what we have now is not a system that prevents recidivism – it’s one that foments it. Because when people are incarcerated when they can’t afford bail, it can cause them to lose their jobs, lose their apartments, and lose the very stability that helps prevent criminal activity in the first place. Last year, we took a powerful step forward by divesting our pension dollars from the private prison industry because it was the right thing to do – financially and morally. Likewise, private bail bonds are a roadblock to progress on criminal justice, and their continued use serves no good purpose. Simply put, commercial bail bonds prop up an immoral system – and they should be banned in our city, once and for all.”

The report found that in FY 2017, there were almost 50,000 total admissions to New York City jails of people awaiting trial, although the jail population on any given day hovers closer to 9,000. Of the 50,000 total admissions, nearly 33,000 admissions – or two-thirds — represented cases where the person was admitted simply because they were not able to post bail. Of the 33,000 cases cited above:

• More than 50 percent were Black and one-third were Hispanic;
• over 40 percent were under the age of 30;
• more than one-third were charged with a misdemeanor; and
• close to one-fifth were identified as having a mental illness.

The Comptroller’s Office estimates that detainees lose about $28 million in wages every year because they were incarcerated after not being able to pay bail. In nearly 15,000 of those 33,000 admissions, people were admitted to City jails and then released after making bail – and more than half of these people paid bail within 3 days.  Short stays serve no public safety purpose and unreasonably burden taxpayers. This group of detainees, who could have avoided jail if bail had been paid at arraignment, collectively spent 119,030 days in jail.

The Costs of Pretrial Detention:

• The Comptroller estimates that the marginal cost to the City to detain people pretrial who are unable to pay bail is about $100 million annually, $10 million of which is associated with incarcerating those who ultimately pay bail and are released back into society before their case ends;
• the City spends about $400 per person per day to house and secure people in custody;
• pretrial detainees make up about 80 percent of all admissions to City jails during the fiscal year; and
• among people who pay bail in NYC, about 70 percent spend at least some time in jail before posting bail.

Alternatives to Private Bail Bonds

Alternatives to private bail bonds already exist in the form of secured bonds, unsecured bonds and partially secured bonds. State law already allows judges to apply these less financially onerous forms of bail, which have proven equally as effective as commercial bail bonds in ensuring that people appear in court and in protecting public safety. While these options are available, they are rarely used.

• Unsecured bail bonds require no upfront cash payment by the defendant;
• partially secured bonds require the defendant (or a family member or friend) to deposit up to 10 percent of the bond amount directly with the court;
• evidence shows these bonds both improve the overall bail-making rate at arraignment and have the same success at ensuring people return to court;
• unlike private bail bonds, the collateral or deposit is returned in all cases, if the defendant makes all court dates;
• defendants and their families are not exposed to illegal fees or practices; and
• the bond is executed as soon as the paperwork is complete.

To read the full report, click here.

HOME-STAT REACHES NEW MILESTONE: NEARLY 1,500 UNSHELTERED HOMELESS NEW YORKERS HELPED OFF STREETS

Outreach teams increase monthly placements by 31% in Fiscal Year 2017, averaging 248 placements per month

  The de Blasio Administration today announced that nearly 1,500 street homeless New Yorkers have successfully transitioned off the streets and into safer, more stable environments, including transitional programs and permanent housing, as a result of the persistent, dedicated efforts of HOME-STAT outreach teams across the five boroughs. From the spring of 2016 through November 2017, through strong collaboration between the Department of Homeless Services, the New York City Police Department, Agency partners, and not-for-profit social service providers, the City has placed a total of 1,480 New Yorkers experiencing street homelessness into permanent housing or transitional settings, all of whom remain off the streets—thanks to new investments in outreach programs and providers, a dramatic increase in dedicated shelter capacity, and a doubling in the number of outreach staff deployed around the clock in all five boroughs.

“It can take dozens or more contacts to convince homeless New Yorkers to come in off the streets and into permanent housing,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “This new milestone proves that our strategy is working and that the growing partnership between the NYPD and our homeless outreach workers is producing more contacts and more transitions from streets and subways into shelter for homeless New Yorkers. The problem wasn’t created overnight and won’t be solved overnight, but we’re headed in the right direction.”

“Through persistence, compassion, and this Administration’s unprecedented commitment of resources to street and subway outreach efforts, the City has helped nearly 1,500 homeless New Yorkers come in from the streets and into transitional programs or permanent housing,” said Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks. “Since launching HOME-STAT, the most comprehensive outreach program in the country, we have dramatically increased our investment in dedicated street homeless programs, doubling the number of outreach staff working around the clock in all five boroughs, tripling the number of specialized beds supporting street homeless New Yorkers, and enhancing our partnerships with the NYPD, other City Agencies and not-for-profit service providers to reach more New Yorkers more frequently. We continue to use every tool at our disposal to build the trust and individual relationships that will encourage ‎homeless New Yorkers to come off the streets and out of the subways.”

In December 2015, the City initiated HOME-STAT (Homeless Outreach & Mobile Engagement Street Action Teams), a citywide multiagency initiative to combat street homelessness in which hundreds of highly-trained not-for-profit outreach staff, including licensed social workers, canvass the streets 24/7/365, proactively engaging homeless New Yorkers, offering services and assistance, and working to gain their trust with the goal of addressing the underlying issues that may have caused or contributed to their street homelessness in order to ultimately help these individuals transition off the streets.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to ending homelessness. With a dedicated not-for-profit provider for each borough (the Manhattan Outreach Consortium, led by CUCS in partnership with Goddard-Riverside, in Manhattan; Breaking Ground in Brooklyn and Queens; BronxWorks in the Bronx; Project Hospitality on Staten Island; and BRC in the subways), HOME-STAT outreach teams working around the clock across the five boroughs, building relationships by making regular—often daily—contact with street homeless New Yorkers: getting to know them, developing trust, and sharing information about the resources available to them.

Not-for-profit outreach provider partners and outreach teams also have psychiatrists who perform psychiatric evaluations on the streets and thereby help outreach teams understand and better meet the individual needs of each street homeless New Yorker. These clinicians and psychiatrists help outreach teams make more effective connections with clients who may be difficult to engage, in many cases due to significant mental health challenges. HOME-STAT also provides aftercare services, continuing to work with individuals who receive placements to ensure that they get the supports they need to remain in housing and off of the street.

Since 2014, the de Blasio Administration has committed unprecedented new resources to street outreach programs and providers:

·   Increasing joint outreach operations with City Agency partners to utilize each Agency’s expertise, engage more New Yorkers, and offer more supports. As part of our HOME-STAT efforts, DHS regularly performs joint operations with community stakeholders and Agency partners, including the NYPD, the Parks Department, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Department of Transportation. Earlier this month, DHS and NYPD expanded joint outreach operations in Midtown, Manhattan to seven days per week, further increasing the number of individuals with whom the City is constantly engaged as well as the number of contacts made in the effort to encourage homeless New Yorkers to accept services and transition indoors.

·   More than doubling the City’s investment in street homeless programs, increasing by more than $53M (119%) from $44.6M in FY14 to more than $97.6M in FY18.

· Nearly tripling the number of beds dedicated to supporting street homeless New Yorkers citywide since 2014, with hundreds of beds opened during this Administration, hundreds more coming online this year, and an additional commitment to another 250 beds, increasing the operating total from roughly 600 beds to nearly 1,800 beds.

· More than doubling the number of outreach staff canvassing the streets engaging New Yorkers 24/7/365 since 2014, from 191 to nearly 400. Those outreach staff spend months building relationships by making regular—often daily—contact with street homeless New Yorkers:  getting to know them, building trust, and sharing information about the resources available to them. It can take months of persistent and compassionate engagement to successfully connect street homeless individuals with City services (5 months on average).

·  Building the City’s first-ever by-name list of individuals known to be homeless and residing on the streets to improve delivery of services. Central to the HOME-STAT effort, these outreach teams continue to build the City’s first-ever by-name list of individuals known to be homeless and residing on the streets, more effectively enabling the teams to directly and repeatedly engage New Yorkers in need where they are, continually offering supports and case management resources while developing the trust and relationships that will ultimately encourage these individuals to accept services and transition off of the streets. As part of that by-name list, outreach teams now know more than 2,000 individuals by name who are confirmed to be homeless and living on the streets and are actively engaging more than 1,500 individuals encountered on the streets to evaluate their living situations and determine whether they are homeless as well as what specific supports they may need.

· Helping nearly 1,500 individuals off the streets who’ve remained off the streets. In the roughly year-and-a-half since the launch of HOME-STAT in Spring 2016, the City has helped 1,480 people transition off the streets into transitional programs or permanent housing, due in part to a doubling in the number of street homeless outreach workers dedicated to cultivating relationships with our street homeless neighbors and connecting them with the services they need.

Accepting outreach efforts, including services that will help homeless New Yorkers transition indoors from the streets, is voluntary. It can take months of persistent and compassionate engagement and hundreds of contacts to successfully connect street homeless individuals with City services. Together, the City and not-for-profit outreach service provider partners remain undeterred in the ongoing effort to engage unsheltered New Yorkers proactively, offering services and support, until making the connection that will help them transition off the streets and out of the subways. HOME-STAT outreach teams continue to reach-out to these New Yorkers to offer services and help them come indoors.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. Invites you......

NYLCV RESPONDS TO GOVERNOR CUOMO'S EXECUTIVE BUDGET

While There is Much to Like, NYLCV is Disappointed by the Failure to Include a Solution to Carryout Bags

  Although expectations are lower in this challenging budget year than in the past two budget cycles, there is a great deal for environmentalists to like in Governor Cuomo's 2018-2019 Executive Budget. Previously, the Environmental Protection Fund was one of the first targets for austerity cuts. This year, Governor Cuomo has left it at its historic level of $300 million. Similarly, the spend down of the $2.5 billion promised for clean water promised last year will remain in place. While it is easy to take these funding levels for granted, they are important to applaud. We sincerely look forward to spending the next ten weeks pushing for progress rather than trying to undo painful cuts. We are also pleased to see funding for fixing our parks, building the Empire State Trail, finally finishing Hudson River Park, combatting algal blooms in our waterways, and remediating the Grumman contamination in Bethpage.

Two long-discussed new programs made it into the Governor's budget and they rank high on our priority list. For the second consecutive year, Governor Cuomo included a proposal requiring large generators of food waste to donate edible food and recycle the rest. Similarly, after years of behind-the-scenes efforts, a plan to reform the forestry tax credit to encourage owners of private forests not to develop the land was included for the first time. Both of these proposals have well-resourced opponents and it will take significant advocacy for them to reach the finish line. Along with our partners, we are gearing up for a serious push. We hope that both the Governor and our legislative allies join us in this effort. 

We are also pleased to see the Governor include a proposed compromise solution to the expansion of the Pine Barrens he vetoed in December. The Governor's version would not include the Mastic Woods, allowing a solar farm to move forward, and replaces this land with state and county lands not in the original plan. We hope that all parties come to the table to agree on a reasonable solution that does not pit land preservation against renewable energy. 

The Governor's embracing of a fee on all vehicles entering the central business district in his speech today is a step in the right direction on congestion pricing. We need to hear more details and look forward to the report of the Fix NYC panel later this week. Time is short for such a major proposal and we are concerned it is already starting from behind by not being included in the Executive Budget. Inaction, however, is not an option since the long-term consequences pose a major threat to our climate goals and to the Downstate economy. We are hopeful that the unusually high stakes will bring all of the relevant players to the table to get something done before April. 

Of course, we cannot agree with the Governor on everything and we strongly believe that leaving a solution to single-use bag waste out of the budget was a serious oversight. Last year, when Governor Cuomo overturned New York City's attempt to deal with the problem, he promised a statewide solution. We are still waiting for it after a disappointing Plastic Bag Taskforce report was released on Saturday night over the holiday weekend. Instead what we are left with is an inconsistent and inadequate patchwork of local laws. When Governor Cuomo wants to get something done, few can rival his rate of success. If he is serious about making good on his pledge, we expect that he will include a plan to either institute a ban on plastic bags and a fee on paper bags, or a fee on both in his 30 Day Amendments or through a program bill. 

You're invited to attend Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.'s 2018 State of the Borough Address on Thursday, February 22, 2018, at The Bronx High School of Science. Doors open at 10:30 AM, program begins promptly at 11:30 AM. RSVP at bit.ly/sotbx18.

A.G. Schneiderman Announces Indictment And Arrests Of Medical Testing Company Owners In Multi-Million Dollar Medicaid Fraud

Tea Kaganovich And Ramazi Mitiashvili Indicted For Grand Larceny In The First Degree For Stealing From Medicaid By Billing For Fake Medical Tests

Attorney General’s Civil Lawsuit Seeks $24 Million Under The State’s False Claims Act

If Convicted Of Top Counts, Defendants Each Face Up To 25 Years In State Prison

  Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the indictment and arrest of Tea Kaganovich, 45, and Ramazi Mitiashvili, 57, both of Brooklyn, NY for Grand Larceny in the First Degree and other related charges for illegally billing Medicaid for fraudulent diagnostic testing services and laundering the criminal proceeds from their scheme. The Attorney General also filed a civil lawsuit seeking $24 million in damages from the defendants under the State’s False Claims Act and other laws. The indictment alleges that Kaganovich and Mitiashvili, operators of Sophisticated Imaging, Inc., East Coast Diagnostics, Inc., and East West Management, Inc., engaged in a systematic scheme to subject Medicaid patients to a battery of diagnostic tests that were not medically necessary and not ordered by real physicians. Kaganovich, Mitiashvili, and the indicted corporations then caused the Medicaid program, including Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (“MCOs”), to be billed for medical testing, some of which was never rendered at all. The defendants later laundered their illicit proceeds through various bank accounts and paid co-conspirators hundreds of thousands of dollars to perpetuate the scheme. The Attorney General’s civil lawsuit alleges that defendants’ illegal conduct cost Medicaid over $8 Million.

“Medicaid is meant to be a healthcare safety net for New Yorkers, not a bank account for criminals,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “My office will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who try to undermine the Medicaid program and defraud New York taxpayers.”

During its ongoing investigation into “medical mills”, the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) discovered that the pattern of fraud at each medical mill was similar. Medical mills are purported healthcare clinics that solicit Medicaid recipients who have no apparent medical concerns with promises of a cash payment, usually ranging between $20 and $50. After getting the recipients in the door and obtaining their Medicaid identification, the mills, using licensed healthcare providers complicit in the scheme, submit fraudulent claims to Medicaid or MCOs for services that are never rendered or medically unnecessary. Prosecutors allege that the licensed healthcare providers who purportedly staff the mills are paid by the mills for the use of their medical licenses and Medicaid credentials, but often never see the patients in whose names they submit claims to Medicaid. 

In 2016, MFCU sent undercover investigators posing as Medicaid recipients into one of the mills. The investigators discovered individuals who held themselves out as physicians even though they did not have licenses. To maximize billing, the unlicensed “doctors” subjected the patients, including MFCU’s undercover agents, to an array of medical tests from individuals purporting to be diagnostic technicians with a variety of medical equipment. The “tests” were whatever equipment the technicians happened to bring to the medical mill that day.

Prosecutors allege that Kaganovich, Mitiashvili, and their corporations participated in the “medical mill” scam by funding and staffing it. Prosecutors also allege that to keep the scheme going, Kaganovich and Mitiashvili paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks to the owners of medical clinics for patient referrals. Prosecutors further allege that Kaganovich and Mitiashvili also employed the purported diagnostic technicians who rotated between mills and contracted with licensed physicians to read the medically unnecessary diagnostic scans their employees generated. Prosecutors also allege that operators further caused the physicians to bill Medicaid and MCOs for the fraudulently obtained scans, and that once reimbursed by Medicaid or MCOs, the physicians paid Kaganovich and Mitiashvili for administering the allegedly medically unnecessary scans.  

In October 2016, investigators from MFCU executed search warrants at two medical mills related to the defendants’ scheme located at 2423 Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard in Manhattan and at 2781 Webster Avenue in the Bronx.

A grand jury sitting in Manhattan returned an indictment charging all defendants with Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a class B felony; Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony; and Prohibited Practices (Kickbacks) in violations of the New York Social Services Law, a class E felony. The grand jury also charged Kaganovich and East Coast Diagnostics with Money Laundering in the First Degree, a class B felony; Mitiashvili and East West Management with Money Laundering in the Second Degree, a class C felony; and Kaganovich and Sophisticated Imaging with Money Laundering in the Third Degree, a class D felony. Lastly, Kaganovich and Mitiashvili were indicted for Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a class E felony. If convicted of the top counts, each defendant faces up to 25 years in state prison.

Notably, a federal grand jury sitting in Brooklyn indicted Kaganovich and Mitiashvili last month for various federal crimes related to a similar healthcare fraud scheme.

Today, Acting Justice Mark Dwyer of the Supreme Court, New York County arraigned the defendants and adjourned the case to April 6, 2018. Both defendants pled not guilty. The Defendants continue to be held in federal custody. 

The Attorney General would like to thank the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG), the U.S. Department of Justice Medicare Strike Force, which operates with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York; the Office of the Kings County District Attorney; the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS OIG); the New York City Human Resources Administration, Medicaid Provider Investigations and Audit Unit, and the managed care company HealthFirst for their assistance and cooperation in this investigation. 

The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

AG's Special Investigations And Prosecutions Unit Releases Report On The Death Of Edson Thevenin

  Today, the Attorney General’s Special Investigations and Prosecutions Unit (SIPU) released its report into the shooting death of Edson Thevenin. Over the course of the investigation, SIPU did not obtain adequate evidence to make a finding of criminal culpability. As part of today’s report, SIPU recommends that the Troy Police Department make several urgent and systemic reforms to departmental practices.

Attorney General Schneiderman released the following statement:

“Edson Thevenin’s death was a tragedy. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. 

Our investigation uncovered significant problems with the Troy Police Department’s evidence collection, preservation, and analysis practices in this case. These problems included a flawed, prejudged analysis of the evidence and a failure to properly interview all of the available witnesses to the shooting. As detailed in the report, these failures undermined the homicide investigation and must be quickly and thoroughly addressed. 

As a matter of law, regardless of the ultimate conclusions reached by our office, criminal prosecution in this case was made impossible because the officer involved testified before a 2016 grand jury without having waived immunity from prosecution.

We are always committed to conducting a fully independent review of the facts in these cases, and to providing an exhaustive and transparent accounting of our investigation.”

BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ HONORS THE LEGACY OF REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

  Monday, January 15, 2018, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. hosted the borough's Annual Interfaith Service honoring the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

Residents and elected officials from throughout the borough gathered at Trinity Baptist Church, which served as the event's co-sponsor, to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the death of Dr. King’s, uniting in honoring the legacy of civil rights leader’s message of peace and unity.

 

“This year is the 50^th anniversary of that tragic day when Dr. King was assassinated,”said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. “In light of the vitriol that comes out of the Oval Office on a daily basis, we can find hope in the path laid down by leaders such as Dr. King; a minister, civil rights activist and nonviolent leader who showed us that we can change the world if we work together.”

Borough President Diaz Jr. later attended the afternoon service honoring Dr. King at Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church, in the West Farms area of the Bronx.

 

“Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church is pillar in our borough,” said Borough President Diaz. “Their efforts in elevating the spiritual quality of life and focusing on the betterment of communities across our beautiful borough very much lines up with the beliefs of Dr. King’s legacy.”

 

Borough President Diaz finished the day in Brooklyn, and attended a community celebration honoring Dr. King held at Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church in Clinton Hill. The event recognized the contributions community leaders make to their neighborhood and their constituents.

 

United States Congressman Hakeem Jeffries presented Borough President Diaz with an “Excellence in Leadership” Award, recognizing the borough president’s contributions in helping the both The Bronx and New York City continue its upward growth.

 

“To receive an award on such a day is truly an honor, as we celebrate the remarkable efforts of Dr. King in addressing the needs of the community,” said Borough President Diaz. “I am honored to receive this award.”