While announcing that eleven people were charged in a billion-dollar Long Island Rail Road disability pension scheme, the federal authorities said that this was just the beginning. According to Newsday, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara "said his office would explore civil cases to recover money, as well as new criminal cases, and FBI Criminal Division of New York special agent Diego Rodriguez urged people who had been part of the fraud to come forward -- but declined to promise leniency": "Who has better information about this scheme...than those who perpetrated it? We look forward to hearing from you. For those who choose not to contact us, there's a good chance we'll be contacting you." more ›

Mayor Bloomberg and Comptroller Liu, working together? Nope, hell hasn't frozen over—the mortal enemies have teamed up to blow up the city's pension plans so that they can be reborn, phoenix-like, as one giant $120 billion dollar pension fund. Both pols are bullish on the idea, which has union backing, and are hoping Albany will approve it. Basically the idea is by putting the city's funds together with more streamlined management it will be easier for the funds to make money. And, as Bloomberg put it yesterday, "the more investment returns you have, the less that taxpayers have to put in.” more ›

Three years after the NY Times reported on rampant disability fraud among Long Island Rail Road employees, the federal authorities have arrested ten people for their roles in perpetrating the billion-dollar scam. According to the Times, "Most of the people — those charged in the case include seven former railroad workers accused of making false pension claims, the two doctors and a former federal railroad pension agency employee who helped the workers file the claims — were taken into custody in the early morning hours at their homes by F.B.I. agents and state investigators, the people said." more ›

A reverend in the Bronx was arrested earlier this month in Florida after it came to light that he cashed nearly a quarter million in pension checks that were sent to a dead city school teacher. Though Maria Sicardo died on April 23, 2000, the Reverend Victor Rosa, who lived in the same building as her, kept cashing the monthly $2,084-$2,351 checks that were issued to her until 2010. In total investigators say that Rosa bilked the teacher's pension fund of more than $241,000. more ›

The courts have spoken: even coked-up police officers on disability retirement who do construction work can deserve a $52,366.44 annual pension. The Court of Appeals yesterday decided that, because of some bureaucratic shenanigans, retired police officer James Seiferheld can keep his tax-free pension—despite the fact there is strong evidence he never should have gotten it in the first place. Everybody ready to get angry? more ›

Governor Cuomo is proposing a bill that would strip state officials of their pensions if they're convicted of a crime. Naturally, it's nicknamed, by Albany insiders, "Hevesi's Law," since it was inspired by former state comptroller Alan Hevesi who pleaded guilty to accepting $1 million in bribes to direct $250 million in state pension fund money to certain investment banks. But the law, if passed, won't be retroactive and Hevesi, now serving one to four years, will still get his $105,000/year pension. more ›

A police officer who shot herself in the hand at at Manhattan police precinct is taking a $325,000 settlement to end a lawsuit over pension discrimination. According to the Daily News, the deal came "on the eve of jury selection in Brooklyn Federal Court leaves unresolved the question of exactly who shot Officer Pamela Walker in the Midtown South stationhouse." more ›

After the recession, city Comptroller John Liu claimed that people began thinking of those in the public sectors as the "new fat cats," and wanted to set the record straight. So in a new report (below), the office reminds everyone that city workers get paid on average 17 percent less than their counterparts in the private, for-profit sector. “These findings about municipal salaries are an important foundation for any discussion about public employee pensions,” Liu said in a statement. “The issue of retirement needs to be looked at in the context of the overall compensation package earned by public employees." So, not at 65? more ›

The battle over pension reform is hitting the Internet: The Empire Center for New York State Policy, a non-profit arm of the conservative-leaning Manhattan Institute, wants to post the names of all people receiving police pensions in NY State. But retired NYPD officers object, saying the information could jeopardize their safety; one told NY1, "Is my family going to be threatened? Am I going to be receiving phone calls? It is just not right." more ›

Three years after NYPD captain Alberto Sanchez was found guilty of beating his cop girlfriend in the street, and a year after he finally served 40 of his 60 day sentence on Rikers, the NYPD has decided to show Sanchez the door. But he's getting a nice parting gift: an estimated $75k annual pension. more ›

The fight between Mayor Bloomberg and the police and firefighter unions is getting nasty. Last week, it was revealed that Bloomberg was interested in eliminating a $12,000 bonus to current and future NYPD and FDNY retirees, leading heads of those unions to call him a liar. Steve Cassidy, head of the Uniformed Firefighters Associations, said, "As we approach the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Mike Bloomberg wants to say to firefighters and police officers who were there that day and didn't die, 'I'm going to steal money from your pocket.'" more ›

At the State of the City address, Mayor Bloomberg announced that one of his big initiatives would be to reform the current pension system. Now, he's proposed a pension system that would make the retirement age 65—and prohibit workers from being able to pad it, a practice that has boosted some pensions 30-167%. Guess what the unions think? The United Federation of Teachers' president Michael Mulgrew told the Daily News, "[Bloomberg's proposals are] insane. I don't know what to say... The mayor has chosen to no longer have a working relationship with the labor force in New York City... Bloomberg has just decided, 'I'm going to attack, attack, attack everybody.'" more ›

Pedro, Pedro, Pedro. Because nothing with the disgraced former State Senator Pedro Espada ever is easy, news comes today that the problem pol went and filed to receive a pension from the state just a day before he and his son were indicted (they've pled not guilty). On the plus side, because he only has eight years in the system under his belt, the elder Espada only stands to get $9,000 a year from the state. Oh, Pedro. more ›

Sometimes it's very good being Party Boss: a worker at a nonprofit started by Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for falsifying expense sheets yesterday. It was in connection with sketchy claims made at the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, a nonprofit organization Lopez founded, and which has both his campaign treasurer and girlfriend on its payroll. more ›

We thought it was pretty darn bad that several notable convicted politicians, including Alan Hevesi, Joe Bruno, Guy Velella and Clarence Norman, continued to receive taxpayer-funded pensions worth tens of thousands of dollars a year even after they were convicted of criminal charges. But it turns out that even the ones who haven't been convicted yet are doing their own dirty dealings: at least 11 politicians are double-dipping, taking advantage of a loophole that allows entrenched elected officials to collect pension checks while still in office. And by the love of Costanza, it's just not right! more ›

Comptroller John C. Liu announced yesterday that the office uncovered a half-million dollars in suspected pension fraud. The office discovered the fraud after finding numerous instances of dead retirees continuing to cash their pension checks. Of course this brings up the possibility of ghosts and/or zombies who have figured out how to use modern ATMs, but we'll go with the fraud bit for now. more ›

The Garden State has made history again: The Securities and Exchange Commission says it sued New Jersey for "securities fraud for misrepresenting and failing to disclose to investors in billions of dollars worth of municipal bond offerings that it was underfunding the state's two largest pension plans." The problem: NJ allegedly sold over $26 billion of municipal bonds, but the offering plans "created the false impression that the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF) and the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) were being adequately funded, masking the fact that New Jersey was unable to make contributions to TPAF and PERS without raising taxes, cutting other services or otherwise affecting its budget." NJ settled the charges without admitting wrongdoing. more ›

As if getting to do MMA fighting despite getting pension for "lung problems" wasn't sketchy enough, the Post reports on a "PENSION EXPLOSION," where some retired NYPD officers are being investigated for allegedly faking mental illness to get an extra $3,500 a month Social Security benefits. Though they were deemed sane enough to carry guns during their careers, the cops in question are being targeted by the feds, and have set off a corruption probe. One supervisor allegedly told one retired cop, "You're f- -ked! You need to get a criminal-defense attorney." more ›

Residents at over 3,200 buildings in New York City are probably breathing a sigh of relief, as there will be no doormen and building worker strike: The 30,000 apartment building workers and owners reached an agreement just after midnight. According to SEIU 32BJ, the "workers won a tentative four-year agreement early this morning that provides nearly 10% in wage increases, maintains fully employer-paid family health care coverage and keeps pension benefits secure." more ›

This year the FDNY Pension Fund's Medical Board approved 105 disability pensions out of 132 retirees. The problem is they can—nay, must—approve the requests even if there is no evidence linking the firefighters' disabilities to their jobs. Apparently the doctors are forced to approve the tax-free pensions worth three quarters of the firefighter's salary by law—and maybe also out of fear. Once source told the Post that docs regularly approve the pensions ever since board member Dr. Peter-Cyrus Rizzo was shot in 1987 by a disgruntled firefighter who had been denied coverage. "After Dr. Rizzo was murdered, they felt it would just be better to make it unanimous any time they could." more ›

Fire Department heart doctor Neil Coplan has been approved for $95,000-a-year pension for his heart illness, though he never actually fought a fire. According to the Post, any officer or firefighter who acquires a heart illness is assumed to have gotten it from fighting fires, and is automatically eligible for the plan if the disease forces retirement. Dr. Coplan has visited a fire scene only a few times in his career. more ›

The FDNY's First Deputy Commissioner, Frank Cruthers, 63, has been awarded a tax-free disability pension worth an estimated $242,000 annually for the rest of his life. A source tells the Post that Cruthers's disability doesn't stop him from playing golf every week, but the FDNY Pension Fund board of trustees approved his "line-of-duty pension" last week, supposedly because of a knee injury. more ›

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday that his office would investigate "the manipulation of salary and overtime payments that leads to inflated pensions at the expense of taxpayers," citing various cases of state employees who managed to increase their salaries by 30-167%. Cuomo said, "There is a possibility that it's gaming of the system." more ›

Most people think teachers are underpaid and poorly provided for, but not all of them are. Records show that 738 former NYC educators get city pensions of more than $100,000/year (that includes some from city institutions of higher education). In total retired teachers get $3.8 in pension money, making them the biggest recipients of all of the cash-strapped city’s pension programs. "All the pension funds are ticking time bombs," said E.J. McMahon, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute think tank. more ›

A Brooklyn judge decided that the onetime fiancee of a firefighter killed by the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center will continue to receive half of his pension—$35,000 annually—but said she owes the fireman's parents a "heartfelt apology." The court battle between the family of Kevin Prior and former girlfriend Doreen Noone has been raging since 2003. It was complicated by Noone's mid-case marriage to her slain beau's best friend, NYPD Sgt. Edward Wheeler in 2004. more ›

At least four Albany legislators are collecting sweet pensions on top of their annual salaries, including one Assemblyman who sponsored legislation last year to crack down on state workers for the same practice, known as "double dipping." Seventy-five-year-old Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Island) technically "retired" last year but continues to "work" at the state capital, where you're paying him $101,500 in salary plus a pension of about $72,000. Forget it Jake, it's Albany, where it's perfectly legal for veteran lawmakers to "retire" at 65 and start collecting pensions, but without actually leaving their jobs, giving up their salaries or even telling their constituents. more ›

In this case, double-dipping doesn't refer to a George Costanza-like social faux pas—it's the more serious instance of a retired city worker who collects his/her pension PLUS pay from a new public job! The Daily News reports, "New city audits have found 39 city retirees double-dipping with new public jobs - and pulling in some $600,000 in improper pension payments," such as "a retired assistant district attorney collecting a $69,660 pension on top of a $99,100 consulting contract for the state courts... a retired police captain who earned $51,246 as a city teacher on top of a $55,622 pension and a retired teacher with a $55,882 pension who also worked an FDNY office job for $76,490." Nice work if you can get it! The News further explains that retired city employees cannot receive pension payments if they take "another city or state job, though some are allowed to do so if they obtain waivers." City Comptroller William Thompson said, "Immediate action ... is needed to investigate and recoup, if appropriate, any improper payments made to these retirees identified as possible 'double-dippers.'" more ›

This fall, teachers will no longer have to arrive two days before students and prepare their classrooms, because the deal the United Federation of Teachers struck with the Bloomberg administration allows them to return on the same day as students, as part of a deal to save $2 billion in pensions. Of course, the principals are upset: PS 321 (Brooklyn) Principal Elizabeth Phillips asked, "Do parents want their children coming into rooms where furniture is stacked up and materials packed away?"while PS 221 (Queens) Principal Sheila Twomey said, "You don’t want to picture what it was like if a child comes to school and there’s nothing up around the room, you’re trying to find your pencil and everybody else around you is disorganized." And principals union president Earl Logan said the before-school's start meetings were helpful to integrate new teachers. UFT outgoing president Randi Weingarten pointed out that requiring teachers to arrive on the Thursday and Friday before Labor Day (school starts on the Tuesday after Labor Day) violated a 2005 labor agreement and said that the new deal could allow Schools Chancellor Joel Klein to simply move the students' start date to be two days later. more ›