Moonlighting CSEA Boss Accused of Defrauding State of More Than $32,000

ALBANY, NY (12/01/2008)(readMedia)-- A former Civil Service Employees Association chapter president pocketed $32,232 in state pay while she abandoned her state duties to work for a private business, the New York State Inspector General announced today.

Sara Bogart, 56, of Stony Point, N.Y., falsified her time sheets for roughly 1,344 hours at the Hudson Valley Developmental Disabilities Services Office (DDSO) of the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) in Thiells, N.Y., according to the Inspector General's report.

The Inspector General forwarded its findings to the Rockland County District Attorney for possible prosecution of grand larceny in the third degree, offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, both felonies, and official misconduct, a misdemeanor. The Inspector General also notified the New York State Comptroller's Office for a potential review of Bogart's pension credits. Bogart earned $53,423 a year when she retired in 2007.

"Such exploitation of state time is particularly egregious for someone whose job is to counsel and represent other state workers," Inspector General Joseph Fisch said.

According to the report, Bogart took a job in 2002 as a private caregiver for Another Step, Inc. in New City. While moonlighting, Bogart falsified her state time sheets to claim she did state work as CSEA chapter president while, in fact, she was leaving her state job in the middle of the day to go to Another Step, a privately-owned, state-funded organization that provides services to people with developmental disabilities. From 2002 through 2007, Bogart logged an increasing number of outside hours, working at Another Step up to 55 hours a week.

###