Friday’s Wall Street Journal had a very good story about the State government failing to go after Pedro Espada in 1995.
But for some reason, the story did not list the name of the man who was Governor at the time.
I wonder why.
Hmm, could it be because the Governor wasn’t named Cuomo, Spitzer or Paterson?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703395204576023843352497746.html
Nearly six years before federal prosecutors accused outgoing Sen. Pedro Espada of embezzling from his empire of Medicaid clinics, a top state health official tried in vain to persuade regulators to crack down on Mr. Espada's not-for-profit center.
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In January 2005, Paul Stavis, the second-ranking lawyer at the Department of Health, circulated an internal memo urging the agency to consider forcing Mr. Espada to surrender control of Soundview, a Bronx-based network of primary care and social service clinics largely funded by Medicaid and federal grants. Such a shakeup, he stated, was "fundamental to ensuring more legitimacy at Soundview."
The health department had been auditing Soundview and found $1.3 million in "questioned costs," wrote Mr. Stavis, who was serving as director of the department's bureau of house counsel and retired from government last year.
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Rejecting his recommendations, the health department in 2006 reached a settlement with Soundview that docked $877,000 from future Medicaid reimbursements, but left Mr. Espada and board members in charge.