|
ROCHESTER----The state Attorney General's office has initiated a lawsuit against several consultants that allegedly defrauded the Rochester City School District and the former school district official who aided them.
The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in Monroe County, names as defendants, Henry Marini, the former chief executive officer for business of the Rochester City School District. Also named are parties who entered into consulting contracts with the School District including Andrew Perry, his wife Karen Perry, Peter Spier, Filtered Internet Solutions, Inc., Compression Technologies, Inc., Partner Relationship Management, Inc., Performance Brands Online, Inc., and Perimeter Security Consulting Inc.
A joint investigation conducted by the Attorney General's Office and the State Comptroller's Office found that the Rochester City School District paid approximately $420,000 under consulting contracts arranged by defendants Andrew Perry, Karen Perry, and Peter Spier, but did not receive all of the services for which it paid.
During the 10-month period between January and October 2004, Andrew Perry, Karen Perry, and Peter Spier, with the assistance of Henry Marini, obtained 13 consulting contracts with the Rochester City School District. Although the School District maintained a policy that required approval from its Board of Education before awarding more than $25,000 of services to a consultant, with Marini's aid, the consultants evaded review by the Board by deliberately structuring 12 of the consulting contracts in amounts between $24,000 and $24,900 and using the names of seven different companies. In addition, the School District did not receive all of the services for which it paid because:
--Contracts had overlapping service periods and duplicative deliverables;
--The School District was over-billed for work; and,
--Andrew Perry, to pay off his and his company's debts, arranged two contracts with the District under which no services were provided to the District.
The Attorney General's Office also sued Ken Burnham who had a consulting contract with the school district that was arranged by Andrew Perry to pay off debts owed by Perry, his wife, and his company to Burnham. The school district paid Burnham $24,500, but no services were provided to the school district under this contract. 12-30-06
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed by anyone without the express written permission of the publisher. This article is copyright protected.
© 2006 North
Country Gazette
|
