|
NEW YORK CITY---A probation officer has been charged with stealing 22 days of paid leave and submitting 12 fraudulent military leave notes to the New York City Department of Probation.
William Alvarez, 39, of Manhattan, faces felony counts of third degree grand larceny, 12 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree and 12 counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.
NYS Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said, "Falsely claiming military leave from the City is stealing from the taxpayers. It brings discredit to a law enforcement officer who supposedly aspired to a dual career in the civil and military service. Fortunately, the unselfish contributions of the City's many honorable and hard-working 'citizen soldiers' to our collective safety far outweigh one miscreant's abuse of the public trust."
Alvarez, a probation officer since 2001, draws an annual salary $44,011 and is a member of the U.S. Military Reserve assigned Fort Totten in Queens. DOI's investigation revealed that on 12 occasions between December 2004 and October 2005, Alvarez allegedly submitted claims for paid military leave and supported them with forged military papers that falsely state that he been ordered to attend and had attended military training. Eight of the documents purportedly were issued by an official of Bronx Naval Reserve Station and the remaining four by a U.S. Army official at Fort Totten. But both officials told DOI investigators that the documents in question were false and that Alvarez had neither been ordered to attend nor attended military training on the dates specified.
Based on the fraudulent military documents, the DOP granted Alvarez 22 days of military leave for which he received over $3,000 in unearned wages. 6-22-06
© 2006 North
Country Gazette
|
