Air America Radio, Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club Scandal

STILL NO JUSTICE

Gloria Wise Swindlers Get Another Big Break







Attention would- be looters of inner- city charities: New York is the place to be!

Despite community outrage in the Bronx, former Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club executives have continued to generate a peculiar level of sympathy from local judges. Is something funny going on in the Big Apple?

From today's New York Post:

SLAP FOR BOYS CLUB RIP-OFF
By TOM TOPOUSIS


March 14, 2007 -- Two top executives accused of looting the former Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club of $1.2 million - including $875,000 for lefty radio network Air America - got off with a slap on the wrist yesterday when they were ordered to repay a mere $70,000.

As part of the plea deal worked out with the state Attorney General's Office late last year, Charles Rosen and Jeffrey Aulenbach will not serve any jail time - a move that continues to anger residents of Co-op City, where the taxpayer-funded club was based.

Bronx state Supreme Court Justice John Byrne decided to sentence Rosen and Aulenbach under the terms of the plea deal. Byrne had postponed sentencing in December after Co-op City residents presented him with petitions and hundreds of letters of protest.

Rosen will have to pay $38,575 in restitution, while Aulenbach has to repay $32,363.

And, from the New York Times:

Ex-Leaders of Bronx Charity Avoid Prison in Fraud Case

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS and CASSI FELDMAN
Published: March 14, 2007

Two former executives of a Bronx charity avoided prison sentences yesterday and instead will be fined for their roles in a fraud scheme in which they stole money intended for children and the elderly to make renovations to a beachfront apartment, to purchase cars, and to donate $875,000 to a financially struggling radio network.

Charles Rosen, 64, the former executive director of the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club, based in Co-op City, had pleaded guilty in October 2006 to charges of grand larceny and forgery, both felonies, and of obstructing government administration, a misdemeanor.

Jeffrey Aulenbach, 46, the charity’s former deputy executive director, had pleaded guilty to charges of grand larceny and of obstructing government administration.

...

For Mr. Rosen, the imposition of the sentence represents an ignoble chapter in a well-known public life. In 1975, he led a famous rent strike at Co-op City, and later became chairman of the RiverBay Corporation, which manages the sprawling Co-op City complex and its more than 15,000 apartment units. He has been an influential political power broker in the northeast Bronx for decades.

During the past several months, thousands of Co-op City residents signed petitions and wrote letters to the judge in the case, Justice John N. Byrne, requesting that he impose jail sentences on the two men despite the plea agreements. Dozens of Co-op City residents showed up in Justice Byrne’s courtroom for each of the four sentencing dates, three of which were postponed while the judge reviewed documents and considered his legal options.

Yesterday, Justice Byrne said he agreed with the plea deal.

“This court is mindful and sensitive to the wishes of the various people of Co-op City who felt that this was an unjust sentence,” he said in court.

But after consulting with the attorney general’s office, Justice Byrne said, he had concluded that “the promised sentences are appropriate to stand.”

Mr. Rosen walked out of the Bronx Criminal Courthouse without speaking to reporters. His lawyer, Frederick H. Cohn, said the sentence was just.

“The judge did what he should have done,” he said.

Mr. Aulenbach’s lawyer, Richard S. Goldberg, blamed the charity’s board of directors for his client’s troubles.

“Virtually no monies were lost to community endeavors,” he said. “The vast majority of what the community was complaining about were acts that were brought to the board’s attention and approved of by the board. They elected a board of directors that was simply a rubber stamp.”

Juanita Garrido, a sister of Gloria Wise — who founded the organization in 1977 and died in 1993 — said the plea agreement seemed tied to Mr. Rosen’s political influence.

“I just think it was a travesty of justice, but that’s the way it goes here in New York,” she said. “I guess it’s who you know and not what you do.”

The Rev. Robert A. Smith Jr., pastor of the Church of the Savior and president of the Coalition of African American Churches and Community Organizations in Co-op City, said the group was considering filing a civil lawsuit against Mr. Rosen.

“This case is not finished,” he said. “Either way, justice is going to prevail.”

After a two-year investigation by the city’s Department of Investigation, the two men admitted their roles in stealing or misallocating nearly $1.2 million, including an $875,000 payment to a radio network, Air America, that had been concealed from the charity’s board of directors.

The payment, which the charity later said was a loan, had been requested because Evan Montvel-Cohen, an executive at the Boys and Girls Club, had a financial stake in Air America. The money was paid back after investigators told Air America officials that the financial transaction was under investigation.

Of course, regular Radio Equalizer readers know that last paragraph represents a gross over- simplification of what really happened. While Air America did eventually repay the money, it first tried every stalling tactic in the book.

Even now, these questions remain: why weren't any of Air America's executives charged with crimes? After all, they took the money.

In addition, how is former Air America host Al Franken planning to deal with this issue during his Minnesota US Senate race? At some point, Stuart is sure to be asked about this disgusting scandal.


AAR Scandal: Darleen Click, Sorry: David A Lunde, Frankengolf: Pete at IHillary


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