Mount Vernon school lawyers targeted in pension investigation
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- June
- 3
A law firm that has done business with the Mount Vernon School District is one of the latest to get caught up in Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s school district pension probe.
Cuomo announced today that since 1997, lawyers Devereaux Cannick and Jennifer Fremgen of the firm Aiello & Cannick have been improperly listed as “employees” of the Mount Vernon City School District.
“At all times, however, Cannick and Fremgen were providing services as outside retained counsel. Under their agreement with the district, these lawyers received health benefits and state pension credits despite the fact that health insurance is normally reserved for employees as opposed to independent contractors,” Cuomo said in a press release.
“Under the settlement agreement, Cannick and Fremgen have agreed to take all steps necessary to rescind all pension credits they received in connection with their work for Mount Vernon, to forfeit any claim they may have had to recoup employee contributions made to the pension system, to terminate the “employer/employee” agreement, and to work as independent contractors going forward. The firm has not collected any pension funds from (the state). The firm and the two lawyers will collectively pay $75,000 to the state under the settlement,” Cuomo added.
Others settling with the attorney general were the central New York firm of Ferrara, Fiorenza, Larrison, Barrett and Reitz P.C. for work done with the Madison Oneida BOCES, and Long Island attorney Gilbert Henoch, who worked for the districts in Hempstead and East Meadow.
Joseph Spector, who is reporting this story from our Albany bureau, says representatives ofÂÂ Aiello & Cannick did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 at 3:38 pm by Liz Anderson.
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Tax payers pay these bills to the NYS Retirement system, If these lawyers return 75 grand, the money contributed by the district should be returned to the school district.
Any district expenses regarding the health benefits these two received should also be repaid back to the MV school district. Mount Vernon tazpayers are getting screwed.
Why does’nt Attorney General Andrew Cuomo investigate Westchester D.A. Janet Difiore for prosecutorial misconduct, with holding of brady material, suborning of perjury unlawful spending, arranging in the no show job of boy friend Peter Viviano and other unlawful activities that Janet Difiore and members of her office are involved in.