March 2, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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1 CITY OF NEW YORK CONFLICTS OF INTEREST BOARD 2 Lafayette Street, Suite 1010 New York, New York (212) Fax: (212) TDD: (212) Steven B. Rosenfeld Chair/ Monica Blum Angela Mariana Freyre Andrew Irving Burton Lehman Mark Davies Executive Director Wayne G. Hawley Deputy Executive Director & General Counsel Carolyn Lisa Miller Director of Enforcement Julia Davis Special Counsel & Director of Financial Disclosure Alex Kipp Director of Training & Education Ute O Malley Director of Administration Derick Yu Director of Information Technology FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 2, 2010 FORMER BOARD MEMBER FOR THE NEW YORK CITY HEALTH AND HOSPITALS CORPORATION FINED $13,500 FOR MULTIPLE VIOLATIONS OF THE CITY S CONFLICTS OF INTEREST LAW. The New York City Conflicts of Interest Board (the Board ) has concluded a settlement with a former Member of the Board of Directors of the New York City Health and Hospital Corporation ( HHC ), in which the former agreed to pay a $13,500 for his multiple violations of Chapter 68 of the New York City Charter, the City s conflicts of interest law. The former acknowledged that, during the time that he served on the HHC Board of Directors, he also held a series of paid positions with a foreign medical school (the School ) which had contracted, since 1977, with multiple HHC facilities to provide placements for the School s students in clinical clerkship programs at HHC hospitals and then, in 2007, entered into a comprehensive, agency-wide contract for the placement of the School s students. In light of his positions at the School and on the Board, the former Board Member was aware of the School s business dealings with HHC. The former admitted that in so doing he violated the City s conflicts of interest law, which prohibits a public servant from having a position with a firm that the public servant knows or should know is engaged in business dealings with the public servant s agency. The former further acknowledged that, in having these dual roles at the School and on the HHC Board of Directors, he created at least the appearance that the actions he took as a were done in part to benefit the School, in violation of the City s conflicts of interest law, which prohibits a public servant from having any private business, interest, or employment which is in conflict with the proper discharge of the public servant s official duties. The former further acknowledged that, while he was a, he contacted HHC personnel at different HHC facilities on behalf of the School about increasing the number of placements available at those Visit our home page at

2 facilities for the School s students. The former admitted that in so doing he violated the City s conflicts of interest law, which prohibits a public servant from appearing for compensation before any City agency on behalf of a private interest. For the above conduct, the Board fined the former $13,500. A copy of the disposition is attached. The Conflicts of Interest Board is the City s ethics board and is responsible for enforcing Chapter 68 of the New York City Charter, the City s conflicts of interest law. The Board is composed of five members, appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the City Council. Board penalties are civil fines. Public servants who have any questions about the City s conflicts of interest law are urged to contact the Board, which can be reached at (212) Carolyn Lisa Miller, Director of Enforcement, handled this case for the Board. The Board gratefully acknowledges the investigative work of the Office of the Inspector General for HHC, the Inspector General for HHC Norman M. Dion, and Deputy Inspector General for HHC James Liptack, who conducted the investigation. The Board does not comment on Board dispositions, except as set forth above. For copies of any additional public documents, miller@coib.nyc.gov.

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