Queens Assemblyman Charged With Cheating State of Travel Expenses

Assemblyman William ScarboroughCredit 

Ongoing the parade of Albany politicians accused of misbehavior, an assemblyman through Queens was arrested on Wednesday and charged with stealing from the condition by seeking reimbursement for non-existent travel expenses.

The assemblyman, William Scarborough, a Democrat, was also accused of using campaign money for individual expenses. He faces charges in both state and federal court.

Assemblyman Scarborough’s arrest was the latest in a series of scandals involving New York State legislators as well as raised fresh questions about the effectiveness of efforts to combat ethical interstice by lawmakers, even on mundane matters like hotel-room allowances.

“Assemblyman Scarborough tried to game the system, thinking he was going to get away with it, ” the state comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, a Democrat, said at a news conference in New york. “He did not. ”


Mr. Scarborough, who was first elected to the Assembly within 1994, is accused of abusing the per diem system that allows people of the Legislature to be reimbursed for their travel costs. Lawmakers receive $172 for every day they are in Albany, $111 for lodging and $61 for as well as other expenses, and are not required to submit receipts to receive the payments.

Lawmakers generate a base salary of $79, 500, and critics have said some legislators get an aggressive approach to claiming per diems to pad their earnings. An additional assemblyman, William F. Boyland Jr., a Brooklyn Democrat, was convicted within March of cheating the state out of more than $70, 000 by filing bogus travel expenses.

In 2011, 2012 and 2013, Mr. Scarborough received more within travel reimbursements than any other legislator - an average of $34, 054. 03 each year, according to Mr. DiNapoli’s office.

But according to an 11-count indictment in Government District Court in Albany, Mr. Scarborough claimed expenses for traveling to the main city on days when he was not there or periods when he stayed for a smaller time than he asserted.

Mr. Scarborough is accused of stealing a minimum of $40, 000 from the state by submitting 174 false travel vouchers through 2009 through 2012, according to the indictment.

Law enforcement officials had been examining Mr. Scarborough’s journey habits for some time. In March, investigators showed up at his hotel room at a Howard Johnson Inn near Albany to question him.

In a separate 23-count indictment in State Supreme Court in Albany, Mr. Scarborough is accused associated with siphoning money from his campaign committee, as well as filing false disclosure claims with the State Board of Elections in order to conceal his conduct.

Mr. Scarborough withdrew about $38, 575 from his campaign committee’s bank account over a amount of seven years, according to the attorney general’s office, which said he made intermittent build up to repay about half the money he took. He is also accused of depositing in to his personal bank account five checks that had been made payable to his campaign panel, which totaled $3, 450.

The improper use of campaign money and the misuse of travel reimbursements were among the subjects investigated by the Moreland Commission, the panel that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, created last year to check into public corruption, but shut down in March.

Mr. Scarborough, who represents the heavily Democratic district in southeast Queens, would lose his seat in case convicted in either case. But in the meantime, he does not need to worry about the charges affecting his chances within November’s election. He does not have an opponent.


Mr. Scarborough, 68, pleaded simple in both cases on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters, he said he had costly journey expenses because, unlike other lawmakers, he did not feel comfortable leaving his Albany office unattended when the Legislature was not in session.

“I guess if I experienced stayed in New York City, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, ” this individual said.

His lawyer, E. Stewart Jones Jr., said Mr. Scarborough had been owed money by his campaign because of political expenses he had paid out associated with his own pocket. He added that if Mr. Scarborough claimed travel expenses that he was not entitled, “it’s simply an innocent mistake, ” and that Mister. Scarborough would repay the money.

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