Albany County Comptroller Michael Connors has released the findings of an audit on the Albany County District Attorney’s Office that states there are several financial discrepancies involving the office’s petty cash fund, as well as other bookkeeping errors.
In response, District Attorney David Soares said he emphatically disagree(s) that his office has misused or misappropriated any of its funds.
Connor’s office conducted the audit on May 8 on the district attorney’s petty cash fund of $5,000, which is managed by Soares’ director of administration. The critical audit condemned several areas of financial management by Soares’ office and cites a lack of proper paperwork.
`The findings of this audit illustrate that in the case of fiscal management of its petty cash fund, the director of administration of the Office of the District Attorney has routinely ignored attempts to properly and accurately maintain this account,` Connors wrote in the audit’s conclusion. `The director of administration of the Office of the District Attorney has demonstrated a total disregard for fiscal management, a complete lack of compliance with county guidelines for the use of the petty cash fund and exhibits a sense of entitlement that is dangerous to the fiscal matters of the District Attorney’s Office.`
Connors is recommending that the Albany County Legislature suspend Soares’ petty cash account `until someone capable of administering this account is in place in the Office of District Attorney.`
Soares released a statement saying that although he respects the comptroller’s work, he disagreed with the audit’s findings.
`I have reviewed the audit of the petty cash account done by the county comptroller and agree with some of his findings as they relate to process and accounting issues,` Soares said. `Although I respect the comptroller, there are also some conclusions with which I emphatically disagree, particularly those which might lead to the conclusion that funds have been misused or misappropriated in any manner.`
The audit included a three-page list of issues including missing receipts; not implementing previous recommendations on petty cash transactions; poor handling of paperwork; inappropriate reimbursements and expense write-offs; and the depositing of a $351,117 victim restitution check in the petty cash account from a jeweler convicted of bilking customers.
The account is not supposed to exceed $5,000, according to Connors, and he said that victims in the crime were over-compensated with taxpayer money by Soares’ office.
The jeweler, Peter Spinelli, a New Scotland resident and former Colonie Jewelry shop owner, was caught selling fake diamonds and swiping his customers’ gems with fakes. One of the defendants in the case alleged that Spinelli replaced a 73-year-old family stone with moissanite when it was given to him for resetting.
He was originally arrested in May of 2006 when a customer at Spinelli Jewelers, located at 1315 Central Ave. in Colonie, noticed that the stone in her ring looked different after dropping it off at his store for repair, according Soares’ office.
Spinelli pleaded guilty to two counts of felony third-degree grand larceny and was sentenced in March of 2007 by Albany County Judge Thomas Breslin to the state maximum of three to nine years in prison and was required to pay full restitution to his victims in the amount of $391,117.56.
Connors said the restitution money eventually made its way into the petty cash account, and Soares’ said he is now conducting his own investigation into the matter.
`It is my responsibility to ensure the public safety of Albany County, but it is also my responsibility to ensure the integrity of the fiscal controls within this office,` Soares’ said. `I am in the process of convening a panel of financial experts to review the fiscal dealing of the Office of the Albany County District Attorney and will report those findings to the people of Albany County when they become available to me.`
Calling himself the county’s `fiscal watchdog,` Connors has been no stranger to controversy during his years of public service. In 2004, in a move that angered several county Democrats, Connors ran on the Republican ticket against state Sen. Neil Breslin, D-Delmar.
The Albany County Democratic Committee has endorsed opposing candidates in Connors’ re-election bids, most recently in the 2007 Democratic primary, when the committee backed Guilderland Councilwoman Patricia Slavick. Connors won that primary and another four-year term without his party’s official endorsement.
Also in 2004, Soares had defeated the incumbent Democratic district attorney Paul Clyne in that year’s primary, eventually winning in the general election. Clyne is the brother of Bethlehem resident Matt Clyne, who is the Bethlehem Democratic chairman and the county’s Democratic board of election commissioner.
Soares, who appears to be running unopposed this year, maintains that nothing inappropriate has happened under his watch.
`First and foremost, I take full responsibility for the inner workings of the Office of the Albany County District Attorney and want to assure the citizens of this county that departmental funds are being used appropriately to carry out the mission of the office,` Soares said. `I promise the citizens of Albany County that I will take the necessary steps to guarantee that departmental funds will continue to be used responsibly and appropriately by my office.“