COUNTY: AG’s office looking at Broderick

Local News

July 25, 2009

Subpoenas issued, ‘certain transactions’ under review

By Mark Scheer<br><a href="mailto:mark.scheer@lockportjournal.com">E-mail Mark</a> The Lockport Union-Sun %26 Journal Sat Jul 25, 2009, 01:14 AM EDT

The New York State Attorney General’s Office is taking a closer look at Niagara County Treasurer David Broderick’s work as a public administrator.

John Milgrim, a spokesman for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office, confirmed Friday that subpoenas were issued to Niagara County officials last month and that his office is reviewing “certain transactions.”

He declined additional comment on the matter.

Reached by telephone Friday, Broderick said he welcomed the attorney general’s involvement and said it is not unlike the audit that is currently being performed by the New York State Comptroller’s Office.

“We want a review,” he said. “There’s been a lot of questions.”

As the county’s top fiscal officer, Broderick is often responsible for disposing of estate assets of individuals who die without leaving wills. Questions have been raised about the involvement of his wife, local Realtor Jane Broderick, in the selling of properties he has overseen in his capacity as estate administrator.

Concerns about Broderick’s handling of estate affairs were first raised by Amherst attorney Teresa Snyder, whose late mother’s estate case is still pending before Judge Matthew J. Murphy. Snyder’s court filings suggest the Brodericks worked together on several occasions in which Jane Broderick collected fees for her work as an agent. In March, Murphy and Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza sent a letter to the Comptroller’s Office requesting a general audit of Broderick’s estate activities.

According to the state Office of Court Administration, county treasurers who serve as administrators are barred from self-dealing and from hiring as outside vendors “any individual related by blood or marriage to the public administrator or to any employee of the public administrator’s office.”

Broderick’s attorney George Muscato has repeatedly questioned the validity of those rules, suggesting they were never formally enacted. Broderick reiterated that claim Friday.

“We question that,” he said. “We don’t think they were ever approved.”

Muscato has also consistently maintained that Snyder’s claims are baseless and his client has done nothing wrong in his estate dealings. Broderick referred additional questions to Muscato who could not be reached for comment on Friday.

“We’re just letting the judicial process take its course,” Broderick said.

Contact reporter Mark Scheer at 282-2311, ext. 2250

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