Andrew Cuomo has been investigating Soundview Healthcare, a not-for-profit enterprise founded and controlled by State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada, for nine months now. And according to the Daily News, he now has “extensive evidence of potential violations” of the state nonprofit laws on behalf of the company and “a number of its officers, including Espada.” In a legal filing in Manhattan Supreme Court, Cuomo accused Espada of not cooperating with a subpoena and asked a judge to compel him to do so. According to the papers, Cuomo was seeking records of a relationship between the health-care company and a for-profit company also founded by Espada to which it was paying fees. The relationship “allowed Mr. Espada to effectively siphon off and otherwise divert money from Soundview (health centers) for Mr. Espada’s own personal and political benefit,” the attorney general claims. Those benefits included “significant portions” of funds from the nonprofit that ended up paying for campaign expenses like printing, rent for campaign offices, and payroll. This is “improper,” according to Cuomo, and a violation of the state’s not-for-profit law.
Cuomo Has ‘Extensive Evidence’ Of Illegal Actions By Espada [NYDN]
Related: Read Chris Smith’s New York profile of Pedro Espada, the controversial politician who put himself at the center of Albany’s drama last year.
