State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli's Weekly News - Reuniting New Yorkers With Lost Money

 

Reuniting New Yorkers With Lost Money

New York is a national leader in returning lost money to its rightful owners, last year returning $504 million. State Comptroller DiNapoli currently oversees $19 billion in unclaimed funds for over 51 million account holders until it can be returned to its rightful owners. His Office of Unclaimed Funds returns an average of $1.5 million to New Yorkers each business day and regularly travels the State connecting individuals, organizations and local governments with their lost funds. 

  

Banks, insurance companies, corporations and the courts are among the many organizations required by law to report dormant accounts to the State Comptroller. These organizations must attempt to notify account holders by mail and publish the information in newspapers. Despite these efforts, many funds remain unclaimed and are turned over to the Office of the State Comptroller. 

  

Types of Unclaimed Funds: 

• Bank Accounts – savings, checking and CDs 

• Court Funds 

• Dividends 

• Estate Proceeds 

• Insurance Benefits/Policies 

• Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds 

• Telephone/Utility/Security Deposits Check and see if you,

• your family or friends have lost money now! It is free and

• easy to claim. 

• Search Unclaimed Funds

New Yorkers in Need

State Comptroller DiNapoli issued five major reports examining “New Yorkers in Need.” They provide a fact base for understanding the local and demographic variations in need; explaining the implications of lived poverty, food insecurity and housing instability; and making recommendations for bolstering federal safety nets and improving State efforts.

Read the summarized findings and recommendations.  

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DiNapoli Audit Finds Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Medicaid Payments Went to Providers Not Enrolled in the Program

An audit released by State Comptroller DiNapoli found Medicaid managed care organizations made as much as $1.5 billion in improper and questionable payments to providers who did not appear to be enrolled in Medicaid. Generally, under federal and State law providers are supposed to be enrolled, a process that gives DOH assurance that they are equipped and eligible to deliver services.

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Queens Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing $85,000 in NYS Pension Payments Meant for Her Deceased Father

A 37-year-old Queens woman pleaded guilty to felony grand larceny for stealing nearly $85,000 in New York State pension payments meant for her deceased father, State Comptroller DiNapoli and Albany County District Attorney David Soares announced. The defendant, Deanna Hansen, faces up to 28 months to seven years in prison and will pay full restitution as part of the plea.

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Former West Carthage Housing Authority Executive Director and Mother Pled Guilty for Over $48,000 Theft

State Comptroller DiNapoli, Jefferson County District Attorney Kristyna S. Mills, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General, and the New York State Police announced the pleas of former West Carthage Housing Authority (WCHA) Executive Director Jan Hoffman for stealing over $48,000 in WCHA funds, and Katherine Pais, Hoffman’s mother and former WCHA consultant, for aiding in and concealing the scheme.

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Municipal Audits

• Village of Airmont – Claims Auditing
• Village of Argyle – Water Billings and Collections
• Town of Byron – Procurement
• Crown Point Fire District – Board Oversight
• Town of Exeter – Town Clerk/Tax Collector
• Town of Exeter – Town Supervisor’s Records and Reports
• City of Yonkers – Budget Review

ALSO IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK

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• State audit: $1.5 billion 'questionable' Medicaid payments went to unenrolled New York providers
  
  
• Former West Carthage Housing Authority head & her mother plead guilty
  
  
• Rochester woman accused of stealing $121k of dead grandmother’s pension payments

Post of the Week
Tom DiNapoli @NYSComptroller 

Former President of Energy Company Sentenced for Over $5.5M Illegal Kickback and Commodities Insider Trading Scheme

 

The former president of a Texas energy company was sentenced to six years and six months in prison for his role in an illegal kickback scheme and a commodities insider trading scheme involving natural gas futures contracts.

According to court documents, Matthew Clark, 56, of Needville, Texas, conspired with others to direct his employer’s trades to Houston-based Classic Energy LLC, a brokerage firm owned and operated by Matthew Webb, 54, of Tiki Island, Texas, in exchange for illegal kickbacks. As part of his prohibited trading, Clark conspired with John Ed James, 54 of Katy, Texas, and Peter Miller, 49, of Puerto Rico. Clark received more than $5.5 million in illegal kickbacks for his trades. 

Clark was also ordered to pay $6,532,360 in restitution and to forfeit $5,543,662.

Clark pleaded guilty on March 15 in the Southern District of Texas to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, prohibited commodities transactions, and commodities insider trading. Webb pleaded guilty in June 2021 to conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and wire fraud and to violate various provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act. James pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and wire fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 1. Miller pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 20.

In two other related cases, Marcus Schultz, 44, of Houston, and Lee Tippett, 64, of Jacksonville, Florida, pleaded guilty in July 2020 and August 2021, respectively. Schultz pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to violate various provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 1. Tippett pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and honest services wire fraud and was sentenced on Feb. 20 to two years and nine months in prison.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas; Assistant Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; and Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams of the FBI Houston Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Houston Field Office investigated the case.

Bronx Man Charged With 2016 Murder

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”); and Edward A. Caban, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging BRUCE MORRIS, a/k/a “G,” with murder through the use of a firearm and a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. MORRIS was arrested and was presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, almost eight years ago, Bruce Morris murdered Jerome Jemison in the Bronx in connection with a long-running drug conspiracy.  Thanks to the hard work of the prosecutors in this Office and our law enforcement partners at the NYPD and FBI, Morris will finally be held to account for this heinous crime.  With these charges, we continue our daily work of investigating and prosecuting those who perpetrate these senseless acts – no matter how many years have passed.  We hope this prosecution brings some measure of comfort to the victim’s loved ones.” 

FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith said: “Firearms and illegal narcotics continue to infiltrate and plague our city, posing a grave danger to New Yorkers.  In 2016, Bruce Morris allegedly murdered Jerome Jemison – prematurely ending the life of another over a drug trafficking operation.  The FBI remains steadfast in its mission to remove firearms from the streets and deliver justice for those fallen victim to unnecessary gun violence, regardless of when the crime was committed.”

NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban said: “Gun violence goes hand-in-hand with the illicit drug trade, and today’s charges show the tragic consequences of that reality.  The NYPD and our law enforcement partners remain committed to investigating drug-related murders, no matter how long it takes.  We also remain committed to disrupting and dismantling the actors and enterprises that fuel such drug-related violence, as well as to removing from our streets all illegal firearms and everyone allegedly willing to use them.  I commend the NYPD investigators and FBI agents involved in this important case, as well as the prosecutors at the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, for their indispensable work.”

As alleged in the Indictment:[1]

MORRIS shot and killed Jerome Jemison on August 11, 2016, in the Bronx, New York, in relation to an eight-year crack cocaine distribution conspiracy.

MORRIS, 42, of the Bronx, New York, is charged with one count of murder through use of a firearm, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of death or life in prison, and one count of narcotics conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The minimum and maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and the NYPD. 

This case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Weinberg, Camille L. Fletcher, and Jeffrey W. Coyle are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment and the description of the Indictment set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.