Alan G. Hevesi

Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The New York Times,

Alan G. Hevesi was the New York State comptroller until he resigned Dec. 22, 2006, after pleading guilty to defrauding the government. He admitted that he had assigned a state worker to serve as a driver for his ailing wife, Carol, and that the worker had provided more than security: he had also watered Ms. Hevesi's plants, driven her to Bloomingdale's and dropped off her dry cleaning. But by the time Mr. Hevesi resigned his office, investigators for the Albany County district attorney's office were examining a more troubling problem: allegations that Mr. Hevesi's associates had sold access to the state's $122 billion pension fund, using one of the world's largest pools of assets to reward friends, pay back political favors and reap millions of dollars in cash rewards for themselves.

In 2007, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo's office and then the Securities and Exchange Commission took over the inquiry, which has ballooned into a sprawling investigation involving some of the most prominent players in New York's political and financial worlds.

The resignation and the guilty plea capped a stunning fall from grace for Mr. Hevesi who was first elected to the State Assembly 38 years ago, and who went on to serve as New York City comptroller for eight years before running unsuccessfully for mayor in 2001 and then being elected state comptroller in 2002.

Mr. Hevesi's legal woes began in September 2006, when his little-known Republican opponent, J. Christopher Callaghan, got a tip that Mr. Hevesi had been using a state worker as a chauffeur for his wife and called a hot line that Mr. Hevesi had established for citizens to report fraud and corruption.

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Posted by Tracey on 03/10/10 at 01:58 PM • (0) Comments

Tags: corruption, fraud, alan hevesi, conflict of interest, new york state pension fund, california public employees retirement system, state comptroller,