With CACC ex-officio board member Fred Patrick gone,
that leaves the CACC with two board seats vacant...
The New York Times, Saturday, July 12, 2003
Police Official Is Charged With Fraud
By SUSAN SAULNY
A top New York City police official was charged yesterday in federal court in Manhattan with diverting more than $110,000 from a nonprofit foundation to cover his personal bills for collect telephone calls involving prison inmates, according to court papers.
The official, Frederick J. Patrick, 38, the Police Department's deputy commissioner of community affairs, serves as treasurer of the nonprofit group, the New York City Correction Foundation Inc., and is the sole signatory on the foundation's bank account, the authorities said.
According to the complaint unsealed yesterday, Mr. Patrick mailed foundation checks totaling more than $110,000 to MCI and Nynex "to pay for telephone calls of a personal nature" by state and city inmates beginning in early 1997 through December 2001.
Prosecutors would not say what the purpose of the calls or the nature of the conversations was, and the complaint did not make that clear. During a tape-recorded interview on June 16, Mr. Patrick said that he had accepted calls from inmates and allowed three-way calling, and that the calls had been personal, according to the complaint.
Mr. Patrick was not authorized by the foundation or the city's Department of Correction to use the money to pay his home phone bills, the complaint says.
Mr. Patrick surrendered to the authorities and was arrested yesterday morning. He appeared in the afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Theodore H. Katz, who released him on his own recognizance. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 11. Because Mr. Patrick used the United States Postal Service to mail checks to the phone companies, officials said, the specific charge against him is mail fraud.
If convicted, Mr. Patrick could face a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He did not speak during the court proceedings, nor did he enter a formal plea.
As a condition of his release, Mr. Patrick may not have access to foundation accounts and must adhere to travel restrictions, said Serene K. Nakano, an assistant United States attorney. His lawyer, John Curley, said Mr. Patrick had agreed to the condition.
The foundation was incorporated in 1994 to accept gifts of money or property to assist the Department of Correction.
In 1995, officials said, Mr. Patrick became the sole signatory on the foundation's account. He never repaid the foundation for any of the calls, officials added.
According to the complaint, officials with the foundation said it had no offices and used Department of Correction offices, phones, fax machines and other equipment. Mr. Patrick told the foundation's secretary "that these telephone expenses should be categorized as `special projects' in the foundation's books and records," the complaint says.
Rose Gill Hearn, the commissioner of the city's Department of Investigation, said yesterday that forensic auditors began analyzing 10 years of records and receipts at the foundation about five months ago to get a better understanding of how it handled its money.
She said of Mr. Patrick, "What came to light is that he has been consistently dipping into the foundation's account for his own personal purposes over a six-year period while he was a high-ranking member of four of the city's law enforcement agencies."
Mr. Patrick has also served as the commissioner of the Department of Juvenile Justice, as the deputy director in the Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator, and in two roles for the Department of Correction, deputy commissioner of programs and assistant commissioner of training.
A Police Department spokesman, Michael O'Looney, said in a statement, "We are saddened by the news of his arrest." He said Mr. Patrick had been suspended without pay.
that leaves the CACC with two board seats vacant...
The New York Times, Saturday, July 12, 2003
Police Official Is Charged With Fraud
By SUSAN SAULNY
A top New York City police official was charged yesterday in federal court in Manhattan with diverting more than $110,000 from a nonprofit foundation to cover his personal bills for collect telephone calls involving prison inmates, according to court papers.
The official, Frederick J. Patrick, 38, the Police Department's deputy commissioner of community affairs, serves as treasurer of the nonprofit group, the New York City Correction Foundation Inc., and is the sole signatory on the foundation's bank account, the authorities said.
According to the complaint unsealed yesterday, Mr. Patrick mailed foundation checks totaling more than $110,000 to MCI and Nynex "to pay for telephone calls of a personal nature" by state and city inmates beginning in early 1997 through December 2001.
Prosecutors would not say what the purpose of the calls or the nature of the conversations was, and the complaint did not make that clear. During a tape-recorded interview on June 16, Mr. Patrick said that he had accepted calls from inmates and allowed three-way calling, and that the calls had been personal, according to the complaint.
Mr. Patrick was not authorized by the foundation or the city's Department of Correction to use the money to pay his home phone bills, the complaint says.
Mr. Patrick surrendered to the authorities and was arrested yesterday morning. He appeared in the afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Theodore H. Katz, who released him on his own recognizance. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 11. Because Mr. Patrick used the United States Postal Service to mail checks to the phone companies, officials said, the specific charge against him is mail fraud.
If convicted, Mr. Patrick could face a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He did not speak during the court proceedings, nor did he enter a formal plea.
As a condition of his release, Mr. Patrick may not have access to foundation accounts and must adhere to travel restrictions, said Serene K. Nakano, an assistant United States attorney. His lawyer, John Curley, said Mr. Patrick had agreed to the condition.
The foundation was incorporated in 1994 to accept gifts of money or property to assist the Department of Correction.
In 1995, officials said, Mr. Patrick became the sole signatory on the foundation's account. He never repaid the foundation for any of the calls, officials added.
According to the complaint, officials with the foundation said it had no offices and used Department of Correction offices, phones, fax machines and other equipment. Mr. Patrick told the foundation's secretary "that these telephone expenses should be categorized as `special projects' in the foundation's books and records," the complaint says.
Rose Gill Hearn, the commissioner of the city's Department of Investigation, said yesterday that forensic auditors began analyzing 10 years of records and receipts at the foundation about five months ago to get a better understanding of how it handled its money.
She said of Mr. Patrick, "What came to light is that he has been consistently dipping into the foundation's account for his own personal purposes over a six-year period while he was a high-ranking member of four of the city's law enforcement agencies."
Mr. Patrick has also served as the commissioner of the Department of Juvenile Justice, as the deputy director in the Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator, and in two roles for the Department of Correction, deputy commissioner of programs and assistant commissioner of training.
A Police Department spokesman, Michael O'Looney, said in a statement, "We are saddened by the news of his arrest." He said Mr. Patrick had been suspended without pay.
