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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From the Westchester County Board of Legislators.(Supplemented by WPCNR) August 21,2012;

A resolution for an independent audit of Playland, the 280-acre amusement park and beach facility owned and operated by Westchester County, received approval today by the Westchester County Board of Legislators (BOL) Government Operations Committee and will now be set for a full vote at the BOL’s next regular meeting on September 10.

The resolution, was supported only by the Democratic legislators on the committee. The call for an independent audit implies that administration reports of Playland being 10% off in revenues has left out important sources of revenue.

In midsummer, Astorino gave legislators a grim report. He even told CBS Radio “Cash strapped Westchester losing $3 to 5 Million a year on Rye Playland is no longer going to be an option,” and that trend in losses is likely to continue. A decison on the park future will be made in September.

The resolution authorizes BOL Chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers) to employ an independent financial firm to audit and review the actual revenues and expenses of Playland along with the current procedures in place to ensure proper and accurate compilation of the data; and instructs the Budget Director and the Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Conservation to provide the professional auditors with all information and documentation requested.

“This is a thirteen million dollar a year business that deserves a full financial and operational audit so that legislators can make informed decisions about Playland’s future,” said Legislator Catherine Borgia (D-Ossining), chair of the BOL Government Operations Committee. “With this in mind, it is entirely prudent that we start planning for an audit right now.”

The County Charter mandates that the BOL “investigate the official conduct and the accounts, receipts, disbursements, bills and affairs of any office or officer of the county, or of any office or officer of any special county district or other unit of county government, and make such studies or investigations as it deems to be in the best interests of the county,” as well as “employ such…financial or other technical advisers as may be necessary from time to time, in relation to the performance of any of the functions of county government.”

WPCNR notes the cost of Playland’s deficit, that the Astorino administration has been wringing its hands over for the last 2 and a half years, apparently did not stop the county from spending $6.7 million (approximately two years of Playland’s revenue shortfalls) to ready the bathhouses for a Children’s Museum and giving that museum a $1 a year lease with no financial resources as yet revealed by the museum’s backers.

Ned McCormick, Director of Communications for the County Executive told WPCNR this month that the museum would have to demonstrate their financial resources before the County Committee on Contracts and Acquisitions would approve the lease. If that lease is denied, of course, it would mean the county wasted that $6.4 Million paid to fix the bathhouses that a developer could have paid for.

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U.S. Attorney Bharara said, “Money is the lifeblood of terrorist and narcotics organizations, and while banks which launder money for terrorists and narco-traffickers may be located abroad, today’s announcement demonstrates that those banks and their assets are not beyond our reach. We will use every resource at our disposal to separate terrorists and narco-traffickers, and the banks that work with them, from their illicit funds, even those hidden in foreign accounts.”

DEA Administrator Leonhart said, “As we alleged last year, the Lebanese Canadian Bank played a key role in facilitating money laundering for Hizballah-controlled organizations across the globe.

“Our relentless pursuit of global criminal networks showed that the U.S. banking system was exploited to launder drug trafficking funds through West Africa and into Lebanon. DEA and our partners are attacking these groups and their financial infrastructure while establishing clear links between drug trafficking proceeds and terrorist funding.”

According to the complaint, the affidavit in support of the seizure warrants and other documents filed in the case:

From approximately January 2007 to early 2011, at least $329 million was transferred by wire from LCB and other financial institutions to the United States for the purchase of used cars that were then shipped to West Africa. Cash from the sale of the cars, along with the proceeds of narcotics trafficking, were funneled to Lebanon through Hizballah-controlled money laundering channels.

LCB played a key role in these money laundering channels and conducted business with a number of Hizballah-related entities. Hizballah is a U.S. Department of State designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, a Specially Designated Terrorist, and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

On Feb. 10, 2011, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a finding and proposed rule under provisions of the USA Patriot Act that LCB is a financial institution of primary money laundering concern, based on among other things FinCEN’s determination that there was reason to believe that LCB had been routinely used by drug traffickers and money launderers operating in various countries in Central and South America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. FinCEN also determined that there was reason to believe that LCB managers were complicit in the network’s money laundering activities.

After the FinCEN action, another Lebanese financial institution, SGBL, acquired the assets and liabilities of LCB for $580 million, $150 million of which is being held in an escrow account at BLF (the “LCB escrow funds”). Because the LCB escrow funds are traceable to the assets of LCB, they are also subject to forfeiture; but since they are in an account in Lebanon, the United States is unable to seize the LCB escrow funds directly.

However, under U.S. law, the United States can seize funds located in a bank’s correspondent accounts in the United States if there is probable cause to believe that funds subject to forfeiture are on deposit with that bank overseas. Based on this provision and others, the seizure warrants were executed. A total of $150 million was seized from BLF’s correspondent account. These funds will be transferred to a seized asset account maintained by the U.S. Marshals Service pending resolution of the forfeiture action.

U.S. Attorney Bharara thanked the DEA for its leadership and praised the New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force for its outstanding work on this investigation, which he noted is ongoing. The strike force is comprised of agents and officers of the DEA, the New York City Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the New York State Police, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Marshals Service, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

The strike force is partially funded by the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which is a federally funded crime fighting initiative. U.S. Attorney Bharara also thanked the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the FBI, and the New Jersey State Police for their assistance.

This matter is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s Asset Forfeiture Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sharon Cohen Levin, Michael Lockard, Jason Cowley, and Alexander Wilson are in charge of the case.

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WPCNR TAPPAN ZEE BRIDGE NEWS. From the Metropolitan Transportation Council. August 20, 2012 UPDATED 1:55 P.M.:

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council meeting voted unanimously to approve the building of a new Tappan Zee Bridge. However the Metropolitan Transportation Council webcast video feed could not be heard. A spokesperson for the MTC wrote WPCNR during the soundless meetingcast, saying,”This is a known issue that is currently being looked at; they are trying to resolve ASAP.

 At last look before we gave up on New York State technology, Kevin Plunkett, the Deputy County Executive was testifying. Due to the lack of audio comments from representatives of Riverkeeper could not be heard.

The approval was made possible when the last human roadblocks to clearing the way for consideration of a federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act  loan to begin construction, the County Executives Robert Astorino of  Westchester County, Scott Vanderhoef of  Rockland County and Maryellen ODell of Putnam, members of the Council signalled Thursday they approved of building a new bridge.

The Council acted Friday to schedule this morning’s meeting. Brian Conybeare, Special Advisor to the Governor, announced Sunday the meeting has been moved up because the federal government had indicated the sooner the state could get approval of the Council, the sooner the state application for the TIFIA loan could be considered.

The Transportation Council approval for the loan request to be considered comes eleven months after President Barack Obama told Governor Cuomo, that  the Tappan Zee Bridge project was one of the endeavors that would be “expedited.” That announcement was made October 10, 2011.

Governor Andrew Cuomo praised the county executives’ Thursday approvals, that made the Monday morning meeting possible:

“Building a new, better bridge to replace the Tappan Zee and ending the dysfunction that has delayed this project for over ten years has been a top priority since I took office,” Governor Cuomo said. “County Executives Robert Astorino, Scott Vanderhoef and MaryEllen Odell have consistently supported our efforts to replace the Tappan Zee and I am pleased that they are pledging to vote for our plan to build a safer, transit-ready bridge that will reduce congestion, provide a dedicated bus lane, and create tens of thousands of jobs. We will continue to work with local leaders and stakeholders as we move forward with one of the biggest and most critical infrastructure projects in New York.” 

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. Special to WPCNR. August 17, 2012:

White Plains Superintendent of  Schools. Dr. Christopher Clouet described Wednesday’s first mediation session between the district and the White Plains Teachers Association (currently without a contract for the new school year starting in September)  to WPCNR as  “no, no settlement yet. We are meeting again next week.”

Kerry Broderick, President of the WPTA, gave WPCNR this statement:

“We had our first mediation session yesterday. We are still working to come to resolution and we have made some progress. We have our second session on Thursday August 23, 2012. I am hopeful that we will have an MOA (Memorandum of Agreement) at the conclusion of that day.”

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WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2012. August 16, 2012:

Once more in Westchester County a challenger politican has been knocked off a ballot through the use of the courts.

As Glen Hockley was removed from a ballot by the courts in his bid to run on his own line for Mayor of White Plains, due to his failure to file a routine form declaring his intention to run, another very similar strategy has been successfully used by the Republican Party to take out Diane DiDonato-Roth, the challenger to Bob Cohen for the Republican nomination in the State Senate 37th District.

Diane DiDonato-Roth, the North Castle politician who was about to challenge Bob Cohen of New Rochelle in the September 13 Republican Primary to run on the Republican line (one of 2 Senate Districts serving White Plains) announced today to WPCNR she would not appeal the decision today by the court today to remove her from the ballot.

The Board of Elections challenged in court that of 1,786 petition signatures she had turned in (1,000 needed to get on the ballot), 1,156 were invalid. Today the judge ruled that only 200 of the 1,156 signatures challenged were valid, leaving Ms. Didonato-Roth with 830– 170 signatures short of the 1,000 needed to be on the ballot.

Cohen will now face Democrat George Latimer in November.

Roth, whose petition was challenged by her opponent, New Rochelle businessman Bob Cohen, released a statement to WPCNR she would not appeal the decision:

“I just spoke with Chairman Colety (the head of the Westchester County Republican Party) and informed him I will not be challenging the court’s decision today to uphold the signatures on my petitions.

I also informed the Chairman that I will fully support all of our Republican candidates in Westchester. It is vital that we address rising property taxes and declining job numbers and the Republican party is the only party with the sensible solutions to make this happen.”