Police investigation of city scrap metal sales show lax cash policies
Kate King, Staff Writer
July 12, 2011 Updated: July 12, 2011 10:39 p.m.
STAMFORD -- The two-week police investigation of alleged thefts of city scrap metal uncovered no criminality, but revealed informal, free-wheeling cash-handling practices by Office of Operations supervisors, police reports show.
The Stamford Police Department Tuesday released a 54-page report of the investigation, conducted between May 14 and May 30 by investigators Jeff Booth and Heather Bozentko with oversight by Sgt. Peter diSpagna.
The officers' reports show cash from scrap metal sales was stored in "petty cash" jars, in the desk drawers of department supervisors and in a safe that also holds money from city parking meters.
Operations workers told police the money was not turned over to the city, but rather used to fund pizza lunches for parks department employees, supplies for Stamford classrooms and Office of Operations Christmas, Fourth of July and birthday parties, the police reports said.
Police interviewed about 40 city workers and analyzed city and junkyard records amassed by an outside auditor, Kroll Associates. Kroll was hired by the Board of Finance in May 2010 to audit Stamford's scrap metal handling. Police officers also conducted surveillance during the investigation, Chief Robert Nivakoff said Tuesday.
"We took a look at different places," he said. "We put an extensive amount of time into it. We wanted to make sure it was comprehensive. I think it was conducted fairly, openly and completely. It was a parallel investigation with Kroll."
The police reports provide additional details of the closely watched investigation into whether municipal workers sold city scrap metal and pocketed the cash. The allegations were brought to the attention of city Rep. Sal Gabriele, R-16, and former Board of Finance chairman Joe Tarzia by city workers in spring 2010 and have since exploded into a political issue encompassing Mayor Michael Pavia's administration, the Department of Operations and the Board of Ethics.
"I'm glad that the police are finally releasing the report," Gabriele said Tuesday. "It's going to be interesting to see how they came up with their conclusion."
The officers began their investigation by examining the significant amount of information given to them by Kroll. The auditor reviewed two local junkyards' record-keeping polices and all scrap metal sale transactions with Stamford workers dating back five years, according to the police reports.
Kroll named 17 city employees involved in scrap metal transactions and the city vehicles used to transport scrap metal, the reports state. Police were also given copies of receipts, checks, fuel logs, surveillance photographs from Rubino Brothers junkyard, worker time cards and records of metals sales.
Police then interviewed several traffic, recycling, parks and education workers identified by Kroll as "suspects" in possible scrap metal thefts, according to the reports. The officers then expanded their questioning, which took place in a conference room at the Stamford Police Department, to ultimately encompass about 40 current and former city workers, including department supervisors.
Some employees told police they never received cash for sales of city scrap metal, the reports indicate. Other workers, however, said they were routinely paid in cash. The employees told police they handed the money over to supervisors, or left it on their bosses' desks if they weren't in the office at the time.
The supervisors, who included Director of Operations Ernie Orgera, Traffic Maintenance Supervisor Peter Ianaccone and Highways Supervisor Doug Hoyt, did not turn the funds over to the city, but rather stored the money in desk drawers and department safes, police said.
Hoyt, a city employee since 1984, told police his employees were always paid in cash for scrap metal dumped at Rubino Brothers.
"Mr. Hoyt said that he would put the money in the safe that was in the office on Courtland Ave.," one report states. "He said that there was other cash in the safe, from the parking meter guys. We asked him what happened to the money, he thought for a minute and then told us that he knows some of the money was used for the Christmas party. He said that he was not an active participant in planning the party, and he never took any cash for personal use."
Another traffic maintenance employee, Ralph Socci, said workers often put scrap metal cash in Orgera's or Hoyt's desk drawers, according to the police reports. Socci said only Orgera and Hoyt could access the safe in the Courtland Avenue office.
Orgera, who worked as the city's highways supervisor before being appointed director of operations, was also interviewed during the investigation. He told police "that he would keep the money in his desk, he usually would not put the money in the safe," according to one report. "We asked Mr. Orgera how much money he may have had at one time, he said it was only a few hundred dollars, $500 maximum.
"Mr. Orgera went on to say that this has been the way scrap metal has been handled in the city for as long as he can remember, and that he was using the parties as a morale builder for his employees, and does not feel he did anything criminal."
Robert Sabia, a highways employee, told Stamford investigators "he has worked for the city since 1974 and has always been paid cash for any scrap he has dumped at Rubino's or (Lajoie's Auto Parts in Norwalk), and he has always done the same thing with the cash, either given it to his boss or put it on the desk with the receipt."
Kevin Smith, a parks worker, told police he used to turn cash from scrap playground equipment over to his former supervisor, Bobby Longo. Another parks employee, Robert Green, told investigators Longo once used the proceeds from the sale of gym equipment to buy pizzas for department employees.
Police identified one Board of Education employee, carpenter foreman Sal Boccuzzi, as having used the proceeds from the occasional sale of city scrap metal as "petty cash." The money was used to pay for blinds for a teacher's classroom and playground repairs, according to the police reports. Interviews with Boccuzzi's supervisors revealed they were aware of and had approved this use of scrap metal funds.
"It is impossible to determine the exact money received by each supervisor," said the concluding police report, written May 30. "There are many transactions where we were unable to identify the person that conducted the actual transaction, and which supervisor may have been given the money. We do know that Orgera, Hoyt and Iannacone all admitted to taking money from their employees and using it at their discretion, instead of turning it into the city."
The police reports indicate Stamford officers, including Nivakoff, communicated with, and participated in at least one sit-down meeting with Kroll representatives. The police reports also mention a June 2 meeting between several Stamford officers and State's Attorney David Cohen. On June 14, Cohen prepared a summary of the findings and announced the authorities would not be seeking any arrest warrants in regards to the scrap metal investigation.
"The purview of the police and the State's Attorney is not to judge city policies or to decide the best way for city finances to be handled," Cohen said in a statement released June 16. "No one from the city has been able to provide any written documentation, covering the time period in question, prohibiting employees from taking cash payments on behalf of the city."
A finalized report from Kroll, which has so far been paid $150,000 for its investigation, has not been released.
The Board of Finance was to discuss the auditor's findings at its regular monthly meeting Thursday; the board will now hold a special July 19 meeting that both Nivakoff and a Kroll representative will attend.
Staff Writer Kate King can be reached at kate.king@scni.com or at 203-964-2263.