By Dan Murphy
Mount Vernon Mayor Thomas was arrested Monday for allegedly stealing campaign funds for personal use. The charges were made by NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a democrat, against Mayor Thomas, also a democrat.
Schneiderman and Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced the arrest of Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas for allegedly stealing campaign funds and lying about money he diverted from his inaugural committee for personal benefit. Mr. Thomas was arrested on a felony complaint this morning after an investigation that exposed the theft of approximately $12,900 from his campaign committee, and the diversion of over $45,000 from his inaugural committee for personal use and his failure to disclose it.
“As we allege, Mayor Thomas used his campaign and inaugural accounts as personal piggybanks – part of a long-running scheme that began during his 2015 campaign and continued throughout his time in office,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “As we detail in the felony complaint, Mayor Thomas treated these accounts as slush funds to pay off cars, dinners, and even a Chanel purse, and then lied about it in his filings. Public corruption strikes at the very heart of our democracy, and we’re committed to continuing to root it out across New York.”
“This official allegedly misused campaign funds and failed to report gifts,” State Comptroller DiNapoli said. “We will continue to fight public corruption wherever we find it.” The felony complaint filed with the Court today charges Thomas with one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (a Class D felony); two counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (a Class E felony); and two counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the Second Degree (a Class A misdemeanor).
The complaint details a scheme through which Thomas allegedly stole approximately $12,900 from his 2015 mayoral campaign committee, the Friends of Richard Thomas (“FORT”). After winning the mayoral election, Thomas established the Richard Thomas Inaugural Committee (“RTIC”), ostensibly to fund an inaugural celebration, but instead allegedly personally profited from RTIC by diverting over $45,000 for personal use and failing to disclose it.
An investigation further revealed that Thomas allegedly lied on his 2016 annual statement of financial disclosure with the City of Mount Vernon when he did not reveal that businesses controlled by an individual referred to in the felony complaint as “Individual 1,” as well as RTIC, paid Thomas’ personal American Express (“Amex”) bills. After his inauguration, Thomas appointed Individual 1 to a high-ranking position with a City agency that deals with public safety, although Individual 1 had no prior law enforcement experience.
Additionally, and during the pendency of this investigation (which Thomas was made aware of in December 2016), Thomas allegedly lied on his 2017 annual statement of financial disclosure with the City when he did not reveal various sources of funding he received during the reporting period, including a tuition payment made to New York University on his behalf.
Thomas claimed on campaign filings that two separate payments that he issued to himself from FORT, Friends of Richard Thomas, totaling $8,900, were “reimbursements.” An analysis of Thomas’ personal bank accounts, however, revealed that Thomas never laid out any money warranting reimbursement; instead, records of Thomas’ personal bank account show that Thomas was low on personal funds at the time he received the so-called “reimbursements” from FORT. He allegedly used that money for personal expenses, such as rent for his family residence, car loans, and a payment for three automobile insurance policies for two vehicles on which Thomas was listed as the owner, and another vehicle registered to one of Thomas’ relatives. Thomas also allegedly took an additional $4,000 payment from FORT, not disclosed to the New York State Board of Elections, that he used for personal expenditures.
As alleged in the complaint, not only did Thomas falsely report money he took as reimbursements to the NYSBOE, but he also falsely disclosed meals during a family vacation as campaign expenses. That includes a family breakfast at JFK Airport that Thomas listed on FORT’s NYSBOE 2016 January Periodic filing as a housekeeping expense for “food”; Thomas falsely listed the restaurant’s corporate address, 352 Park Avenue in Manhattan, on the disclosure as the place of expenditure. The complaint also alleges that Thomas falsely disclosed a meal at a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant in Mexico during a family vacation; rather than truthfully disclosing that the expenditure took place in Mexico, Thomas falsely used the address of the Bubba Gump restaurant located in Times Square in Manhattan and falsely designated the meal as a “volunteer appreciation” event.
After taking office in January 2016, Thomas allegedly used funds from the RTIC, Richard Thomas Inaugural Committee, account to pay the monthly balance on his and his wife’s personal Amex. In mid-January 2016, a payment for $8,538.16 was made from the RTIC account to Thomas’ Amex; included in those expenses were charges incurred for a family vacation to Mexico. In late February 2016, a payment for $6,000 was made from the RTIC account to the Thomas Amex; included in this balance was the purchase of a Chanel purse that cost more than $2,000. In both March 2016 and May 2016, two separate $5,000 payments were made from the RTIC account to Thomas’ Amex, totaling another $10,000. In October 2016, a payment of $5,320.99 was made from the RTIC account to Thomas’ Amex account; in November 2016, another payment of $2,993.18 was made; and in December 2016, another payment of $3,685.14 was made.
As alleged in the complaint, Thomas took pains to conceal an additional $14,000 payment he received from RTIC by having two close personal relatives receive payments from RTIC and then kick those payments back to Thomas. Each of the two relatives owned companies that received payments from RTIC, ostensibly for services rendered relating to events sponsored by RTIC. According to the complaint, after receiving the payments from RTIC, the relatives then quickly issued checks to Thomas for close to the full amount paid to them.
According to the complaint, prior to Thomas filing his 2017 annual statement of financial disclosure with the City, he learned of the existence of the Attorney General’s investigation. In the 2017 annual statement, Thomas disclosed the RTIC payments to his American Express account as a “loan” from RTIC. Thomas, however, failed to disclose a $10,000 gift he received from a private individual that he had used to pay back the supposed RTIC loan. Additionally, he failed to disclose a $6,000 “gift” he received from another individual who paid his NYU Stern School of Business tuition bill.
Mayor Thomas immediately walked out of Mt. Vernon City Hall on Monday to deny the charges.
“The allegations are merely accusations with no supporting evidence. No indictment has been brought against Mayor Thomas. The allegations are claims of a technical nature relating to Election Law, campaign finance and ethics disclosures. It should be noted that the funds in question, paid to then candidate-Thomas’ personal account, were legal and justified, and made on the advice of counsel, as compensation for his own campaign duties. Thomas, while a candidate for Mount Vernon Mayor, left his job to work solely for his campaign; responsible for a variety of roles, ranging from manager to mail clerk. Additionally, as Schneiderman noted himself, there are no legal restrictions under New York State law pertaining to how Inaugural funds can, or cannot, be spent,” stated Thomas in a press release issued by his communications office at City Hall.
Carl Bernstein, the attorney representing Mayor Thomas said, “The allegations announced today by the Attorney General are unfounded and Mayor Thomas strongly proclaims his innocence. The Mayor’s 2015 campaign never, in any way, intended to violate the law and expects that, through the justice system, his name will be completely cleared of any wrongdoing. The mayor and his team of legal experts await their opportunity to refute these charges in a court of law. The allegations are not public corruption, they are campaign infractions that could have been handled with simple amendments to paperwork filed. If the Attorney General really wanted to rid the City of Mount Vernon of corruption, he would be teaming up with Mayor Thomas, who has made public ethics a top priority and has done more to fight corruption than any of his predecessors in City Hall.”
On the steps of City Hall, flanked by his wife and other supporters, Mayor Thomas said: “The allegations are false. I want to reassure the people of Mount Vernon that they are related to the campaign and not my service in office. I have great confidence in our legal system and have no doubt I will be able to prove our full compliance. I will not allow the process to distract me from my service and duties. I expect to be fully vindicated.”
Speculation is already swirling around Mt. Vernon and Westchester concerning the charges against Thomas.
- Who ‘dropped a dime’ on Mayor Thomas? Election Law violations are seldomly reviewed, and even more rarely prosecuted. Did someone with knowledge of the Mayor’s finances rat him out?
- The charges against Mayor Thomas, a democrat, were made by Attorney General Schneiderman and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, two democrats. While we all hope and believe that are justice system is blind to political party, it is uncommon that a member of one party files charges against another member of the same political party unless the charges are blatantly and obviously true. Mayor Thomas is presumed innocent of the charges, and might be able to ‘re-file’ his Board of Elections and Inaugural committee filings to reflect that some of the money he took from both campaigns were loans, but other charges, including accepting $16,000 in cash ‘gifts’, and the $14,000 in payments made by Thomas’ relatives, who then wrote checks to Thomas, may be more difficult to justify.
- Who is ‘Individual 1’ that is identified in the allegations against Thomas, who is accused of paying Thomas’ credit card bills and then was appointed to a ‘high ranking position in public safety? We have an idea who this individual is but will wait for someone else to name him.
