City Workers Charged in Corruption Scheme
Here's the press release:
City Workers Charged in Corruption Scheme
Catherine Lucey
Here's the press release:
FORMER CITY EMPLOYEE, THREE OTHERS, CHARGED IN CORRUPTION SCHEME
PHILADELPHIA - Kelly Kaufmann Layre, Tina Meyrick, Paul Kling and Brian Daly were charged today by information1 with bribery relating to a corrupt scheme to sell and obtain traffic accident reports, police incident reports, and fire reports depriving the City of Philadelphia of hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger.
The information specifically alleges that Layre, a former employee of the City of Philadelphia Records Department, located in City Hall, solicited bribes on a weekly basis in the form of cash payments from Meyrick, Kling and Daly for many years, from about 2006 through February 2010, in exchange for providing them each with various reports. Layre received approximately $185,776 for her personal use from this corrupt scheme and deprived the City of Philadelphia of over $600,000 in fees. As part of this scheme, Layre sold over 20,000 reports, which are normally sold to the public for a $20 or $25 fee, to Meyrick, Kling and Daly at a significantly reduced rate. It is further alleged that Meyrick, Kling and Daly knew that Layre was accepting the cash for her personal use and not providing the funds to the City of Philadelphia.
“Government employees are expected to conduct themselves with integrity,” said Memeger. “When a city worker accepts bribes to provide what is otherwise available for a fee, the city and its residents pay an extraordinary price for that betrayal of trust.”
“Corruption by public officials and employees is a breach of the trust that we as citizens place in our public servants,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI, “and it is the FBI's top criminal priority because of the effect it has on society. The allegations in the charges filed today represent the siphoning off of public funds that the City of Philadelphia desperately needs.”
“This should send a message that city employees must uphold the public trust at all times in their official duties,” said Inspector General Amy Kurland. “The city lost more than $600,000 as a result of the bribery scheme that these defendants orchestrated. This was money that was sorely needed and many programs are still suffering from the cuts that have been made. It’s crucial that we recover these funds and spend them on projects that benefit all Philadelphians.”
If convicted of all charges, Layre, Meyrick, Kling and Daly each face a maximum possible sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, a $100 special assessment and full restitution.
This case was jointly investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the City of Philadelphia Office of the Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Denise S. Wolf.
Comment removed.
“Corruption by public officials and employees is a breach of the trust that we as citizens place in our public servants,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI, “and it is the FBI's top criminal priority because of the effect it has on society. The allegations in the charges filed today represent the siphoning off of public funds that the City of Philadelphia desperately needs.” The scheme to steal is wrong and the court system will deal with it. However, the #1 priority of the FBI is all wrong; it is TERRORISM! Why do the Feds hide behind this "sizzle story"? Because they are failing in their efforts in exposing the terrorists and bringing them to justice. The biggest waste of money is the Us Attorney's Office and the FBI. They truly commit crimes on a daily basis with no oversight and waste our money by the hour.— OldSchoolG- As long as these "sizzle stories" eventually result in better services and lower taxes for city residents, I'm all for them. We'll see what things look like in a few years.— SirEdward
- Don't hold your breath...unless it stinks. If it does, I hope you get a citation for polluting the air from the city. Then you can relax and see if the Feds can help you "fix it". Of course you will have to be a rat...unless you already have an ongoing account!— OldSchoolG
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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