(UPDATED) Former THA employees plead guilty to fraud

MEISSNER

I remember when the scandal at the Troy Housing Authority was first unraveling. Four years ago, then vice chair of the board, Jay Vandenburgh, came into the office with what amounted to a shoe box of paperwork outlining how then Executive Secretary Bill Meissner was cooking the books – so to speak.

The pile of paperwork may have looked like a disorganized mess but Vandenburgh knew there was something up in regards to Meissner’s vacation time and with his comptroller, Roger Rosenthal’s pension.

Two years later, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli put the entire thing together in a neat little package and handed it off to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman who Monday announced the two had plead guilty to defrauding the pension system and have to pay back $63,517.41.

Honestly, I thought they forgot about the whole thing and was as surprised as anyone, including Vandenburgh, to hear of the settlement. Not because the two weren’t guilty of something but because it took four years to come to a conclusion. Here is a column I wrote about the whole thing two years ago.

It could have been worse for Meissner and Rosenthal too but they hired one of the best attorneys in the city, E. Stewart Jones, and they struck a deal rather than face more serious penalties including outright theft of vacation time. If I recall correctly, Meissner used to take vacation, claimed he worked during them so they weren’t really vacations and then reimbursed his unused vacation time for cash -including the time he took a trip to the Caribbean for his daughter’s wedding.

In the end, the two former THA officials plead guilty to fabricating and backdating a contract in an attempt to show that Rosenthal, who retired from the THA in 2005, was working within the pension system parameters. The contract they fabricated, however, had letterhead that wasn’t even used by the THA until three years after the date the “contract” was signed. Yes, that is the epitome of #troycrazy.  

It wasn’t all Vandenburgh, Executive Secretary Dan Crawley took over for Meissner and when he went to the THA he brought with him city Comptroller Deborah Witkowski – who knows numbers, money and spread sheets like an 80-year-old bookie but is honest as the day is long.

Meissner and Rosenthal really had no chance, yet Meissner came out swinging against Vandenburgh.

There was some scuttlebutt by the commenters on who appointed who and if I recall correctly then Executive Secretary Mario Musolino, a Democrat hired by a board appointed by Mayor Mark Pattison, hired Meissner as comptroller. After Musolino went back to the state, Meissner was appointed acting executive secretary, by a board headed up by Republican Vince Jimino, and then he brought aboard Rosenthal. As one commenter astutely put it – Meissner was keeping the seat warm until Crawley was ready to make the jump from City Hall to the THA.

Anyway, good for Schneiderman and DiNapoli for following through with what Vandenburgh, Crawley and Witkowski uncovered. It took them four years but at least they got some of the public’s money back.  

Below is the press release by Schneiderman and DiNapoli:

A.G. Schneiderman And Comptroller DiNapoli Announce Guilty Pleas By Former Troy Housing Authority Employees Who Tried To Defraud New York State Retirement System

Roger Rosenthal, Former Comptroller For The Housing Authority, Conspired With William Meissner To Submit Forged Documents

Rosenthal Collected Pension While Earning More Than $200,000 From The Housing Authority

TROY — Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today that William Meissner and Roger Rosenthal, former Troy Housing Authority employees, pled guilty to defrauding the New York State Retirement System (NYSRS).

Rosenthal retired from the Troy Housing Authority in 2005 and began collecting a full pension with the NYSRS, then went back to working as a supposed ‘consultant’ with the Authority, collecting more than $200,000 in a three-year period in addition to the pension. 

When the validity of Rosenthal’s ‘consulting’ arrangement with the Housing Authority was questioned, Rosenthal and Meissner submitted a falsified, backdated contract in an effort to cover the illegal retirement payments.   As part of today’s plea agreement, Meissner and Rosenthal have paid New York State Retirement System $63,517.41 in restitution.

The case stems from a report produced jointly by the State Comptroller’s office and the U.S. Housing and Urban Development - Office of Inspector General and is a product of the Joint Task Force on Public Integrity, a cooperative effort between the offices of Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and Comptroller Thomas P DiNapoli that seeks to root out public corruption and maximize the resources of each office.

“These men abused the public trust, defrauded the New York State Retirement System, and harmed both taxpayers and retirees,” said Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman. “I applaud Comptroller DiNapoli for referring this case to our office and for his continuing work in our partnership to ensure that those who defraud taxpayers are held accountable.”

“This case is about pure greed and Mr. Rosenthal scamming the retirement system by unlawfully double-dipping to collect $63,517,” State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said. “He and his accomplice, Mr. Meissner, were thwarted by the swift actions of my office in partnership with the HUD Inspector General and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. As a result of our joint efforts, we exposed the crime and have recovered the money stolen from the retirement system.”

“The arrests and charges today of Mr. Rosenthal and Mr. Meissner serve to remind the taxpayer that law enforcement will continue to pursue corruption, in all forms, especially those that impact the integrity of housing authorities overseen by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban

Development. It is especially disappointing to learn that Mr. Rosenthal and Mr. Meissner used their positions with the Troy Housing Authority to facilitate their greed while the public reeled from the economic challenges of that time. We wish to thank the New York State Comptroller's Office and the New York State Attorney General's Office for their perseverance and steadfast efforts in ensuring a just conclusion to this matter,” said Christina Scaringi, Special Agent in Charge, Northeast Region, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General.
Rosenthal and Meissner entered guilty pleas to Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument, a class A misdemeanor, with intent to defraud the New York State Retirement System.

This matter was handled by Colleen Glavin and Stacy Aronowitz of the Attorney General’s Public Integrity Bureau. The Bureau is part of the Criminal Justice Division, led by Executive Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice Kelly Donovan.