State comptroller launches COVID-19 relief fund tracker

Link:https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/DiNapoli-launches-tracker-of-COVID-19-relief-funds-16533107.php?IPID=Times-Union-HP-CP-Latest-News

Excerpt:

The state has received $21 billion in federal pandemic relief money and has spent $6.1 billion since the end of September, according to a new online tracker released by the state comptroller’s office.

Despite less than a third of the money being spent to date, much of the federal cash has a general spending plan ascribed to it. The state has received just over half of its expected federal aid, which is to total $39.8 billion, according to the tracker. 

“Thankfully New York is getting billions of dollars of federal funding that really has been a lifeline,” state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli told the Times Union. “When you’re seeing an infusion of funding at that magnitude, it is important to follow the money and make sure it is spent as intended.”

Author(s): Joshua Solomon

Publication Date: 14 Oct 2021

Publication Site: Times Union

FBI, U.S. attorney in Brooklyn probing Cuomo administration on nursing homes

Link: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/cuomo-investigation-fbi-covid-nursing-homes-15957401.php

Excerpt:

The FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn have launched an investigation that is examining, at least in part, the actions of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s coronavirus task force in its handling of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities during the pandemic, the Times Union has learned.

The probe by the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York is apparently in its early stages and is focusing on the work of some of the senior members of the governor’s task force, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter who is not authorized to comment publicly.

Author(s): Brendan J. Lyons

Publication Date: 17 February 2021

Publication Site: Times-Union

As New York Unemployment Fraud Surges, Victims Want Help

Link: https://www.governing.com/work/As-New-York-Unemployment-Fraud-Surges-Victims-Want-Help.html

Excerpt:

Many law enforcement agencies are continuing to see a high rate of identification-theft cases involving individuals whose personal information was illegally used to apply for unemployment benefits during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Some of the recent cases are coming to light when individuals are receiving bank debit cards or paperwork in the mail indicating they were approved for federal pandemic unemployment assistance that they never applied for.

In other instances described by law enforcement officials, victims are learning they have been defrauded when they receive tax forms instructing them that the unemployment benefits they received last year are reportable income — although those individuals were not aware that someone had applied for or received the benefits using their identity. In some cases, multiple individuals from the same organizations — school districts, professional firms or government agencies — were victimized. That, according to law enforcement experts, could be tied to data breaches involving those entities.

Author(s): BRENDAN J. LYONS, TIMES UNION

Publication Date: 10 February 2021

Publication Site: Governing