Ethics

The sentencing for David G. Friehling, the auditor of notorious Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, has been delayed until March 18, 2011, according to a spokesperson for U.S. District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in Manhattan.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has spent $600 million in overtime pay from January 2008 and December 2009, with 144 MTA employees doubling their annual income through overtime pay, according to an audit released Aug. 5 by the Office of the New York State Comptroller.

New York Governor David A. Paterson deceived investigators for the state ethics commission when he testified that he had intended to pay for free tickets he obtained to the 2009 World Series, according to a report released Thursday by an independent counsel investigating the matter.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in a historic first, has accused the state of New Jersey with securities fraud relating to billions of dollars worth of municipal bond offerings, a charge that has never before been leveled at a state government.

A series of audits conducted by the state comptroller’s office has revealed at least $150 million worth of waste, fraud and abuse in the state’s Medicaid reimbursement system due to what Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli called “pervasive problems with its billing system and policies.”

The New York State Comptroller’s Office uncovered more than 51 fraud and abuse cases in local governments and school districts across the state totaling approximately $10 million. A report released today by the comptroller’s office said the cases have occurred since 2007.

Sources are reporting that the House subcommittee responsible for trying Rep. Charles Rangel (D – NY) for 13 separate ethics violations has recommended that the veteran congressman be reprimanded for his numerous charges, a step below censure and way below expulsion.

After rejecting a plea deal that would have let him avoid facing public trial, Representative Charles Rangel (D – NY) has been charged with 13 separate ethics violations by the House Ethics Committee, the culminatio

An audit recently conducted by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR)has found that the Pentagon cannot account for 96 percent of the $9.1 billion it has been receiving since 2004 to rebuild the war-torn nation, a state of affairs that the report blames on poor internal controls within the Department of Defense (DoD) that left the money vulnerable to “inappropriate uses and undetected loss.”

The passage of the new Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act has given the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) an expanded role in the regulation of the nation’s financial sector, with new powers and abilities that include overseeing the creation of 95 new rulemaking procedures, more than any other federal agency.