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NEWS from the Office of the New York State Comptroller
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DiNapoli: Former West Carthage Housing Authority Executive Director and Mother Arrested

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

DiNapoli: LIRR Must Better Prepare for Severe Weather to Prevent Service Disruptions and Costly Damages

The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) needs to do more to properly prepare for severe weather events, according to an audit released today by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. The audit found the LIRR delayed a critical weather-related systemwide risk assessment of its infrastructure for over a decade and failed to complete several resiliency projects on-time following Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

DiNapoli: Environmental Facilities Corporation Faces Significant Funding Backlog for Essential Water Infrastructure Projects

New York State’s Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) has provided financing for over 2,000 essential local water infrastructure projects totaling more than $23.7 billion since 1990, but the estimated capital improvement needs for water and sewer projects far exceeds this amount, and tens of billions of dollars in local projects remain in the pipeline, according to a report by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

DiNapoli Launches New Search Tool During Sunshine Week that Allows Users to Take a Deeper Dive on State Contracts

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced Contracts by the Numbers, a new web page with a dashboard that expands the procurement search tools provided in Open Book New York. This new tool lets users perform more robust searches on state agency and public authority contracts, including identifying who has the biggest and most contracts with New York state.

DiNapoli: Two Capital Region Residents Indicted for $1 Million Medicaid Transportation Fraud Scheme

The two principles of Phinaliz Communications LLC, Philip Mtui and Mbaga Kaiza, were indicted for their alleged role in a scheme to steal more than $1 million from Medicaid by filing false and inflated reimbursements for transportation services, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today on behalf of the joint state, local and federal investigating agencies.

DiNapoli: New York's Public and Private Colleges and Universities Face Significant Challenges in Years Ahead

A new report by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli highlights the challenges New York’s higher education sector is facing, including a looming enrollment cliff, growing costs of attendance, and rising student debt. The report examines both public and private institutions of higher education.

DiNapoli: Former Utica City School District Superintendent Pleads Guilty to Public Corruption

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, Oneida County District Attorney Todd Carville, and the New York State Police today announced long-time superintendent of the Utica City School District (UCSD), Bruce Karam, pleaded guilty to the felony charge of public corruption for using taxpayer funds to help support a political campaign relating to the 2021 Utica City School Board election and a non-school related fundraiser.