Reproduced with permission of The Journal News.
Greenburgh court loose with cash, audit finds
By BRUCE
GOLDING
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: July 11, 2004)
GREENBURGH — Mismanagement of Town Court finances left large amounts of cash unaccounted for and open to theft despite repeated warnings over more than a decade that the situation was ripe for abuse, according to an audit by the state court system.
Town and county law enforcement officials said the absence of adequate records had kept them from determining whether any money was stolen. The court routinely collects about $1.5 million a year in fines, fees and bail money.
The state review faulted lax oversight by the town's two part-time justices, Doris Friedman and Sandra Forster, and Chief Clerk Cecile Sia. Under state guidelines, the elected justices are responsible for the court's money.
"As a result of the court's total lack of attention to internal controls, its sloppy and incomplete recordkeeping and lack of effective reconciliation procedures, we were unable to determine that all funds collected by the court were recorded, deposited and properly distributed as provided by law," said a report by the state Office of Court Administration's Internal Audit Unit.
The report did not identify any missing funds, but cited instances in which $5,765 worth of receipts were not recorded in a cashbook, $4,995 in untraceable cash was found in a safe and more than $61,500 worth of parking-ticket payments were not supported by receipts.
Many of the court's financial practices violated proper procedures outlined in the state's official Handbook for Town and Village Justices and Court Clerks, the report said.
Friedman, a Democrat, attributed the situation to an institutional bookkeeping system she called "a mess," and said the court had been hamstrung by insufficient personnel and an inadequate computer system.
"We did, I'm sure — Judge Forster and I — the best we could," Friedman said.
Greenburgh officials are scheduled to vote Wednesday on creation of a third part-time judgeship for the town.
Friedman also said that all of the problems had since been corrected, and that she did not believe any money had been stolen.
Forster, a Democrat, said judicial ethics rules prevented her from discussing the report. Her lawyer, Deborah Scalise, later issued a statement saying: "My client acted appropriately as a judge, and ethically, and within the obligations of her job." Scalise declined to comment further.
Sia declined to answer any questions, saying: "I choose not to."
The eight-page report said "certain matters identified in the audit were also discussed with the Westchester County District Attorney's Office."
But a top aide to District Attorney Jeanine Pirro said investigators had been stymied in their attempts to uncover any crimes.
"We've been thoroughly investigating this case, along with the Greenburgh Police Department and the Office of Court Administration, but the simple theory is that if you can't determine the facts, you can't bring a case," said Chief Assistant District Attorney Richard Weill.
Greenburgh Police Chief John Kapica said his department had interviewed everyone with access to court funds and conducted several background checks to no avail.
"My frustration lies in not being able to tell the residents of the town of Greenburgh, at least at this point, that we can absolutely say to you that there is no criminality in that court," the chief said.
Both Kapica and Weill said the case remained open.
The state report said three earlier audits — by the OCA, the state Comptroller's Office and the town's outside auditors — had identified problems with the court's finances as far back as 1990.
"Even though the control weaknesses exposed the court to an extremely high risk of cash misappropriation, the recommendations of each audit were largely ignored," the report said.
Friedman, who took office in 1999, disputed that assertion, saying she was unaware of the earlier audits and first learned there were problems about two years ago.
She also said the report incorrectly stated that Sia became chief clerk in 1990, which Friedman said actually occurred in 1994.
The chief clerk earns $53,099 a year; the part-time justices each earn $51,821 a year.
According to the report, the OCA audit was ordered by state Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman in response to unspecified "allegations of financial mismanagement at the court."
The audit covered the time between Jan. 1, 2000, and March 31, 2003, although records for only the year 2000 were actually examined.
In addition to the criticisms, the report outlined a half-dozen measures to improve financial controls at the court, including the use of sequentially numbered receipt forms, daily deposits of cash collections and the separation of duties to provide checks and balances. Friedman said all the recommendations had been adopted, four additional workers had been hired, and new computer software was in use.
Administrative Judge Francis Nicolai, who oversees the courts in the suburbs north of New York City, said he would soon request a report on the court's operations from state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Dickerson, whom Nicolai last year appointed to supervise the Greenburgh court.
Friedman said she also would ask the OCA to perform a follow-up audit to verify that the problems had been corrected.
Reach Bruce Golding at bgolding@thejournalnews.com or 914-694-5012.