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Dear New Yorkers,
Something I love about being Comptroller is getting to work with government leaders across New York – like our joint investigation with Attorney General Letitia James into stolen wages, or our Homes Now, Homes for Generations campaign launched in partnership with the NYC Council Progressive Caucus.
For the past several years, my office has been collaborating with the Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office (SDNY) on an investigation into Dominic Coluccio, the former President of the United Probation Officers Association (UPOA). UPOA is the union that represents all current and retired New York City probation officers.
We learned that Coluccio was leading a plot to pilfer from the UPOA as well as the UPOA’s active welfare fund and retirement welfare fund. This week, Coluccio finally admitted in federal court that he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from UPOA and UPOA retirees to fund his lavish lifestyle, pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud.
Throughout the scheme, Coluccio stole approximately $750,000 from the UPOA and its retirement funds. He spent the stolen money on high-end meals and retail items, jewelry, luxury vacations, and hotels, among other things. He used it to pay his credit card bills and inflate his salary.
As New York City Comptroller, I oversee the retirement security of our nearly 800,000 current and future City retirees – so this investigation was a longstanding priority within our office. Like City retirees, probation officers work hard to serve our city. They should be able to retire knowing their union president is managing their retirement security with integrity – not cheating them.
I’m proud of the role our office played in holding Dominic Coluccio accountable, and grateful to the Southern District of New York and the New York City Department of Investigation (DOI) for their teamwork and collaboration.
And I’ll never stop holding people like Coluccio accountable for defrauding New Yorkers and threatening the future of our retirees.
Thanks,
Brad
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