Attorney General Andrew Cuomo accused state Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada of looting $14 million from the largely government-funded Bronx health care nonprofit he founded to pay for campaign expenses, sushi meals and vacations to places like Las Vegas and Miami over the last five years.
“Siphoning money from a charity would be egregious under any circumstances, but the fact that this was orchestrated by the state Senate Majority Leader makes it especially reprehensible,” Cuomo said in a statement.
Espada addressed reporters in Albany, declining to discuss the specific charges, but called the lawsuit “political payback” for his role in the “Senate coup” in June.
The civil lawsuit filed yesterday seeks to remove Espada from his role as president of the Comprehensive Community Development Corp., known as Soundview. Cuomo also wants to oust the board, which he said was packed with family members and Senate employees who rubber stamped such expenditures as an unconditionally guaranteed $9 million severance package — a payout that would bankrupt the organization.
The lawsuit also claims that Soundview owed $700,000 in payroll taxes in 2008, yet still paid $250,000 of Espada’s personal credit card charges.
