City Treasurer Wants Money From Pension Account For Grand Jury Lawyer
By Jenna Carlesso, The Hartford Courant | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Cloud submitted invoices to
"The requests include consultation regarding matters involving the Treasurer's Office, but seem to indicate they do not involve
The city hired attorney
"To the best of my knowledge there is no other inquiry against the
In addition, he wrote, neither the treasurer nor the pension commission has the authority to hire an attorney without the approval of the city's top lawyer. "As of this date," Ilg said, "corporation counsel has only authorized the services of Attorney Droney."
Beccaro attended pension commission meetings, made phone calls, reviewed grand jury subpoenas and bidding documents, researched "applicable federal and state statutes," responded to Freedom of Information requests, and examined sections of the city charter, according to the invoices.
Beccaro also brought on an investigator to try to locate a former city official, Julio Molleda, who had been the head of the finance department, among other services. The investigator's work cost nearly
"An outside investigator was engaged to locate and question
Ilg said he has requested "a more detailed break out of these invoices," to determine what services relate to the pension commission, the general fund or other obligations.
The city has paid Droney about
Cloud could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
"We routinely retain outside counsel for a variety of matters. In this case, the
But
Cloud asked employees to wire the money directly to Hybrid's chief executive officer,
Cloud has said that Molleda authorized the wire transfer. Efforts to reach Molleda have been unsuccessful.
City and school finance officials said the transfer violated basic operating protocols. In the city's financial management system that tracks spending, Hybrid was not listed as a vendor that could receive payments, records show.
It was later revealed that
The state in October filed an 11-count complaint against O'Garro outlining numerous allegations of missing premium payments and possible fraud. Later that month, federal authorities notified O'Garro that he is the target of a grand jury investigation.
In November, the state revoked O'Garro's insurance license. Cloud's ties to O'Garro have been questioned.
The lease between O'Garro and
O'Garro also had a
The treasurer, who received campaign contributions from O'Garro and members of O'Garro's family while running for office in 2011, has denied that a personal relationship had anything to do with the city's business involvement with Hybrid.
O'Garro last fall defaulted on two state loans, totaling more than
The Clouds said they evicted Hybrid in November.
___
(c)2014 The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.)
Visit The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.) at www.courant.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Wordcount: | 992 |
Reemo™ now available for Order on IndieGoGo
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News