Bovis Lend Lease, one of the world's largest construction companies, has admitted to fraud and agreed to pay the U.S. government $50 million to settlement the charges yesterday. And how did it perpetrate the fraud? Well, a former Bovis executive, James Abadie, explained it this way in court today, "From at least 1999 to 2009, I agreed with others at Bovis to continue the existing practice for Laborers at Local 79 to add one or two hours to their time sheets every day whether it was worked or not. I and others authorized the practice for labor foremen to take vacation and holidays while filling out their time sheets as though they had worked." more ›

The $692 million CityTime scandal—arguably the biggest boondoggle of Mayor Bloomberg's three terms, even if most New Yorkers greeted it with a shrug—is starting to wrap up. Today the city and the U.S. Attorney's office announced that Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the main contractor in the $600 million-plus project, will pay over $500 million to resolve a federal criminal investigation into its conduct. Meanwhile the criminal charges in the case continue. more ›

A Brooklyn woman who claimed that an NYPD officer improperly strip searched her and took intimate photos of her with his cell phone will receive a $90,000 settlement from the city. Claudia Bova, 25, was arrested in a Coney Island drug sweep in June 2007, and says that Officer Charles Derosalia, who has been accused by 17 other women of illegal strip searches, took several photos of a tattoo below her navel. “Detective Derosalia victimized women who were in his custody and control. He victimized them in police precincts, right under the noses of his supervisors,” said Bova's lawyer, Nicole Bellina. more ›

Were you wondering how to spend $999 next Thursday? Well, if you want to line the coffers of Republican presidential frontrunner Herman Cain—and meet the man himself—that magical number will get you into Cain's NYC fundraiser next week. Politicker NY reports, "Mr. Cain is spending next Thursday in the Big Apple to raise funds with a lunch at the Russian Tea Room and cocktails at Club 101 on Park Avenue. Both events feature a half hour 'VIP Reception' with a minimum donation of $999 and an hour-and-a-half long 'General Reception' that costs $500 to get in the door." Still, the former Godfather's Pizza CEO is battling questions about various payouts to past female employees and now one of his accusers has broken her silence (via her lawyer). more ›

NYU: it's the home of cyborg teachers, scantily-clad snow shovelers, and Professor James Franco. Oh, and racists—the university settled with an ex-library worker for over $200,000 after his former mailroom supervisor allegedly called him various racial terms and taunts, including a "monkey" and a "gorilla." more ›

A diabetic woman who was caught smoking pot in the Lower East Side has won a $125K settlement from the city because police refused to let her administer insulin after her blood sugar rose to dangerous levels in lockup. Cops at the Seventh Precinct confiscated 30 year-old Jaime Rutkowski's glucose meter and her insulin, and only called EMTs after her blood sugar rose higher than three times the normal level. "Any endocrinologist will confirm that this is enough for a Type-1 diabetic to go into shock, slip into a coma, and die," her attorney tells the Post. Rutkowski was treated at Bellevue for the October incident, and discharged from police custody. more ›

While not great for the city's coffers, Mayor Bloomberg's two-and-a-half terms have been good—financially if not emotionally—for discriminated city employees. The Times today has a long piece on discrimination lawsuits in Bloomberg's New York and the results, culled from FOIL requests, are very interesting. During Bloomberg's first two terms "the number of lawsuits by employees accusing the city of discrimination was 12 percent higher than" they were under Giuliani's watch and during that time "the city settled over 400 employee discrimination cases, for more than $69 million." At least one man managed to get two different discrimination settlements out of the city! more ›

Remember Y2K? And that sick eight hour Phish set at the Big Cypress? And that time J.Lo wore this dress? Those things were so long ago! And so was that time in 1999 when Diddy (then going by Puff Daddy) and his entourage were involved in a shoot up at the now defunct Club New York in Times Square. You know, the one that J.Lo may or may not have witnessed. Well, the lawsuits that stemmed from the incident have only just been settled. more ›

Remember Jeb Corliss? The daredevil that dared attempt to jump off the Empire State Building back in 2006 is back in the papers, with word that the $12 million lawsuit the landmark building filed against him is about to be settled. According to the NY Post, the civil case was closed last week, and Corliss's lawyer Mark Jay Heller says a confidential deal was reached... though building owners say it's not finalized (until next week sometime). 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 ›

The estate of Jeffry Picower, the investor who saw 950% returns from Bernard Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme, has agreed to forfeit $7,206,157,717 of Picower's ill-gotten gains and give it back to victims. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, "Today’s truly historic settlement with the estate of Jeffry Picower is a game-changer for Madoff’s victims. By returning every penny of the $7.2 billion her late husband received from BLMIS to help those who have suffered most, Barbara Picower has done the right thing." This is the biggest settlement for Madoff victims thus far. more ›

If you're a fan of the clothing line Married to the MOB, you can thank police brutality. In 2002, founder Leah McSweeney had her face slammed into a subway grate and her teeth knocked out by a police officer, which later earned her $75,000 in a settlement. With the cash she started the fashion line. McSweeney recalls the fateful night to the Post: "The cops were beating up a friend of mine outside the Hammerstein Ballroom at around 4 a.m., I had a bottle in my hand and—though I shouldn't have—I threw it. That's when the cop punched me." Yeah, cops generally don't like when you throw things at them. more ›

The long-running dispute over payments to those sickened when by toxic dust and more while working during the recovery and cleanup effort at Ground Zero is over: 10,043 plaintiffs—which present 95% of the eligible plaintiffs—have agreed to accept a settlement worth at least $625 million compensation. This means their lawsuits against NYC and other contractors will be dismissed. more ›

Finally, water pollution is paying off dividends: thanks to a 2008 settlement between the city and the state due to pollution problems incurred during the upgrade of the Newton Creek Wastewater sewage facility, $7 million will now be allocated for waterfront improvements throughout the already super-polluted Greenpoint neighborhood. Residents will be able to weigh in on how to spend that money to improve the Greenpoint waterfront with the City Parks Foundation over the next weeks. more ›

Alan Newton served over 21 years in prison for a rape, robbery and assault he didn't commit, before DNA evidence exonerated him in 2006. Yesterday, he was awarded $18.5 million by a jury for his wrongful imprisonment, one of the largest ever amounts awarded for wrongful imprisonment in NYC. “It hasn’t really sunk in. It’s so emotional. It’s something I’ve been fighting for the last four years, since I came home. I’m just glad things worked out at the end of the day,” he told the Times. more ›

The city has agreed to pay $965,000 dollars to cyclists arrested during the monthly Critical Mass rides. This is on top of the money the city spends to have a small army of cops on scooters issue summons to cyclists during the monthly rides. And the settlement doesn't include the lawsuits filed by bike riders arrested during the Republican National Convention in 2004. That's when the troubles began; for over a decade the NYPD had cooperated with the monthly ride, treating it like a parade and even stopping traffic at intersections so cyclists could pass. Here's video documentation from 1999, around the 1:30 mark: more ›

When the family of Sean Bell came to a $7.15 million settlement with the city, even though the police officers in the shooting were found not guilty of charges, it got a lot of people wondering just how willing the city is to pay out to make ugly cases go away. According to a new report by the AP, they are the most willing police department in the country: the city has paid nearly $1 billion in settlements over the last decade. more ›

The city has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a Brooklyn man who suffered a fractured cheekbone during an altercation with a police officer in a subway station on Inauguration Day 2009. Construction worker and father of three Kalween Rodriguez spent days in the hospital from injuries to his wrist and head, and of course the NYPD and Rodriguez have different explanations for why he landed there. more ›

Two of the law firms representing 9/11 first responders are in a fight over expenses incurred during the massive lawsuit with the city. Andrew J. Carboy, a lawyer at Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo PC, who represent nearly 700 plaintiffs, filed a notice yesterday that he plans to challenge over $400,000 of more than $1.75 million in common benefit costs submitted by Worby Groner Edelman & Napoli Bern LLP, which represents more than 9,000 plaintiffs in the litigation. more ›

As Rep. Charles Rangel must decide whether to settle the House Ethics charges brought against him or to head to trial, one of his longtime colleagues is hoping the Harlem Democrat can just work out a deal. House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) said on MSNBC that he thought Rangel should admit wrongdoing, "I think that Charlie Rangel made it very clear in all the discussions I had with him...that he was willing to stipulate to all the sworn testimony that [was] made regarding these 13 allegations... Once a stipulation is made like that, the groundwork is there for a resolution to be had short of any kind of trial. So I would hope that we can get this done." more ›

In an interview to be broadcast tomorrow and Monday, President Obama tells CBS News that the ethics charges that Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) are "very troubling" and says he hopes Rangel will end "his career with dignity." However, Obama didn't give a timetable—which is just as well, since a source told Politico that the longtime House member "doesn’t give a damn about what the president thinks about this" and isn't resigning. more ›

A lawyer said that the city's $3.25 million payment to settle the wrongful death lawsuit of Sean Bell, who was killed in a hail of 50 bullets hours before his wedding, was the largest payout for a police shooting. According to Newsday, "The Bell settlement in the Brooklyn federal court case topped recoveries by Amadou Diallo ($3 million), Ousmane Zongo ($3 million) and Patrick Dorismond ($2 million), three other men who died in notorious police shooting cases in the city." more ›

Rep. Charles Rangel, the long-serving Democratic Congressman from Harlem, is reportedly still in talks with the House Ethics Committee to settle charges ahead of today's trial. However, there's a big sticking point: Rangel apparently doesn't want to admit he did anything unethical. A source told the NY Post, "He feels, I think very strongly, that he has not done anything that was wrong." more ›

Mazel Tov? A Brooklyn federal judge has awarded $10 million to the victim of a circumcision gone wrong, leaving his man parts "partially amputated." The settlement is ordered to be paid by the makers of the Mogen clamp, which was used to perform the procedure. Though it is advertised as the "preferred device of the more modern Jewish Mohel," the device has been involved in other partial amputations. The judge found that the device should have come with a warning, instead of the promised "risk-free procedure" in the instruction manual. more ›

A former NYPD lieutenant who was accused of masturbating in front of subordinates—but claimed he had jock itch—has cost the city $300,000. Kieran Crowe was found guilty of harassment for "simulated masturbating and wiggled his tongue at [subordinates] in a sexually suggestive manner" at One Police Plaza in 2008, in spite of his dermatologist's testimony. A trial commissioner had said no condition requires "extensive staring at crotches, masturbation gestures, tongue gestures and sighing sounds" and Crowe later quit the force. Now the Daily News reports, "Sgt. Dominic Coppola will receive $175,000 and Sgt. Sean Gallagher $125,000" in the settlement. One of their lawyers said, "Although our clients are satisfied that the litigation is over, it is further proof that the once-silent issue of same-sex harassment is on the rise." more ›

A federal judge approved the latest offer from the city to settle 9/11 first responders' health claims. Judge Alvin Hellerstein said the $712 million settlement "is fair... This has been a long and difficult process and I'm very happy it's resolved," but added that it wasn't "perfect... I wish there was enough money so that anybody that had any kind of injury got compensated just because he was a hero on 9/11." more ›

A Queens woman who was suing the city for $3 million, because she was attacked by wild, stray dogs in 2001, accepted a $750,000 settlement. Marlene Fils-Aime was injured when trying to rescue Lev Lieverman who was being attacked by two Rottweilers, a pit bull and two mutts on December 26th, 2001. The dogs, which tore off Liberman's ears and part of his scalp and left him legally blind, were attracted to city-owned vacant lots at Beach 68th Street in Far Rockaway, which were over-grown and full of garbage. After community complaints, city initially removed the dogs, but then returned them to a homeless man right before the attack. Fils-Aime's lawyer said, "She's a tough, focused woman. "She's a little hyper about dogs and she doesn't want to go anywhere near the boardwalk." more ›

A former postal worker who spent 18 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit won the largest personal settlement the city has ever agreed to pay: $9.9 million. Thanks to the Innocence Project, Barry Gibbs was set free in 2005 after prosecutors' key witness admitted that Detective Louis Eppolito had forced him pick Gibbs out of a line up, even though the man he'd seen was smaller and shorter. Eppolito and his partner Stephen Caracappa are in prison for life for taking part in mob-related killings and doing other dirty work for the Luchese crime family. more ›

After a federal judge questioned the hefty payout that a law firm would receive from the city's approximately $575 million settlement for sick 9/11 responders, the Daily News reports the law firm "grudgingly agreed to forgo $85 million in legal fees." Apparently Worby Groner Edelman & Napoli Bern told judge Alvin Hellerstein that it was willing to accept 20%—instead of 30%—for $115 million. How generous? more ›