Lawyers Rack-up $234,000 In "Payroll-Padding" Scheme

by Rhonda J Mangus | April 18, 2008 at 05:04 pm

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The lawyers are all partners in Girvin & Ferlazzo, a prominent Albany law firm. Auditors found that all five had been reported as full-time employees of the Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES, located west of Albany, when the five actually had worked a total of just 196 days in the 2006-2007 school year. One lawyer, auditors said, worked only four hours.

Sandra Peddie and Eden Laikin of Newsday report New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli finds five lawyers, all partners in Girvin and Ferlazzo (Albany), were involved in the "Payroll-Padding" scheme currently under investigation by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Lawyers Salvatore D. Ferlazzo (photo), James E. Girvin (photo), Jeffrey D. Honeywell (photo), Kristine Amodeo Lanchantin (photo), and Kathy A. Wolverton (photo) racked-up $234,000 for the 2006-2007 school term.

DiNapoli's Office seeks to recover all pension money awarded to private attorneys who were reported by school districts, throughout Western New York (WNY), as public employees to obtain the benefit.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and District Attorney's Office have launched their own investigations.

Cross-reference: NP Article "Payroll-Padding" Scheme Investigation Expands