A recent audit of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office use of state asset forfeiture funds in 2019 and 2020 found a series of record keeping issues and the loss of $610 in funds.
The Feb. 7 audit by the Suffolk Comptroller’s Office, which also examined the state asset forfeiture programs in the Suffolk County Police Department and sheriff’s office, found a variety of issues with internal controls and accounting practices.
A spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney, who was not in office during the time period of the audit, did not provide comment Tuesday.
The audit said the district attorney’s office failed to provide the required written notice to the county executive and legislature for 71 expenditures by the district attorney’s office that exceeded $20,000, the audit documented.
The district attorney’s office, in a written report included in the audit, said it has implemented controls in 2022 — when Tierney began his tenure — and “does not anticipate this issue going forward.”
The audit found that the three audited law enforcement agencies “have complied” with the asset forfeiture law “relating to the regularity, legality and correctness of appropriations and expenditures of asset forfeiture funds, except for instances of noncompliance identified throughout the report,” the audit concluded.
In one instance cited in the report, the district attorney’s office failed to properly process a money order.
“The documentation would not be corrected and returned until more than six years has elapsed form the original forfeiture,” the report said, adding: “As a result, $610 of forfeiture funds are uncollectible due to failures in the handling of the monetary instruments.”
The district attorney’s office, in a written response contained within the audit, called the $610 loss an “isolated instance.”
In 2019, the district attorney’s office took in $309,898 in state asset forfeiture and spent $265,992, the audit said. In 2020, the revenue totaled $378,258 and $285,432 was spent, the audit said.
Suffolk Comptroller John Kennedy did not respond to a message seeking comment. The comptroller’s office must audit the asset forfeiture programs twice annually.
In a written response included in the audit, the district attorney’s office said there were “no findings of failure to report, misappropriation, fraud or other malfeasance.”
Asset forfeiture is a civil action that allows law enforcement agencies to seize money, cars and other assets that are alleged to have been the product of illegal activity. It’s popular with law enforcement because it’s seen as a crime deterrent and it also helps to fund various programs.
But critics have argued that some law enforcement agencies have become dependent on the forfeitures as a revenue stream.
The audit comes as the district attorney’s office is unable to participate in federal asset forfeiture programs due to a pending federal investigation.
Newsday reported in 2023 that the FBI and federal prosecutors in Los Angeles were investigating the use of federal asset forfeiture proceeds in undercover money laundering operations that began under former Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota.
In an April 14, 2023 letter written by Allen Bode, the chief assistant to Tierney, said the office’s asset forfeiture funds had been frozen for the last 2 ½ years due to “the malfeasance of the prior administrations’ seizure and subsequent usage of money and property seized in criminal cases and how such money was then used” referring to the administration of Spota and former Suffolk District Attorney Timothy Sini.
Sini could not immediately be reached for comment.
Tierney said then that he had instituted a new policy dictating that asset forfeiture funds can only be spent if approved by Bode, the general counsel or special counsel after he took office in January 2022.
Tierney also said then that his office had retained about $2.2 million of previously frozen funds with the help of Sen. Chuck Schumer and members of Long Island’s congressional delegation, but was still precluded from participating in the program.
A comptroller’s audit last year of the federal asset forfeiture program at the district attorney’s office noted that it had been placed into “noncompliant status” by the Department of Justice.
The district attorney’s office added that “they do not believe that they are the target of the probe and fully expect to receive all forfeiture funds that have been earned at the conclusion of the inquiry,” the March 1, 2024 audit said.
A recent audit of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office use of state asset forfeiture funds in 2019 and 2020 found a series of record keeping issues and the loss of $610 in funds.
The Feb. 7 audit by the Suffolk Comptroller’s Office, which also examined the state asset forfeiture programs in the Suffolk County Police Department and sheriff’s office, found a variety of issues with internal controls and accounting practices.
A spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney, who was not in office during the time period of the audit, did not provide comment Tuesday.
The audit said the district attorney’s office failed to provide the required written notice to the county executive and legislature for 71 expenditures by the district attorney’s office that exceeded $20,000, the audit documented.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- A recent audit of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office use of state asset forfeiture funds in 2019 and 2020 found a series of record keeping issues.
- The Feb. 7 audit by the Suffolk Comptroller’s Office found a variety of issues with internal controls and accounting practices.
- The district attorney’s office failed to provide the required written notice to the county executive and legislature for 71 expenditures by the district attorney’s office that exceeded $20,000, the audit documented.
The district attorney’s office, in a written report included in the audit, said it has implemented controls in 2022 — when Tierney began his tenure — and “does not anticipate this issue going forward.”
The audit found that the three audited law enforcement agencies “have complied” with the asset forfeiture law “relating to the regularity, legality and correctness of appropriations and expenditures of asset forfeiture funds, except for instances of noncompliance identified throughout the report,” the audit concluded.
In one instance cited in the report, the district attorney’s office failed to properly process a money order.
“The documentation would not be corrected and returned until more than six years has elapsed form the original forfeiture,” the report said, adding: “As a result, $610 of forfeiture funds are uncollectible due to failures in the handling of the monetary instruments.”
The district attorney’s office, in a written response contained within the audit, called the $610 loss an “isolated instance.”
In 2019, the district attorney’s office took in $309,898 in state asset forfeiture and spent $265,992, the audit said. In 2020, the revenue totaled $378,258 and $285,432 was spent, the audit said.
Suffolk Comptroller John Kennedy did not respond to a message seeking comment. The comptroller’s office must audit the asset forfeiture programs twice annually.
In a written response included in the audit, the district attorney’s office said there were “no findings of failure to report, misappropriation, fraud or other malfeasance.”
Asset forfeiture is a civil action that allows law enforcement agencies to seize money, cars and other assets that are alleged to have been the product of illegal activity. It’s popular with law enforcement because it’s seen as a crime deterrent and it also helps to fund various programs.
But critics have argued that some law enforcement agencies have become dependent on the forfeitures as a revenue stream.
The audit comes as the district attorney’s office is unable to participate in federal asset forfeiture programs due to a pending federal investigation.
Newsday reported in 2023 that the FBI and federal prosecutors in Los Angeles were investigating the use of federal asset forfeiture proceeds in undercover money laundering operations that began under former Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota.
In an April 14, 2023 letter written by Allen Bode, the chief assistant to Tierney, said the office’s asset forfeiture funds had been frozen for the last 2 ½ years due to “the malfeasance of the prior administrations’ seizure and subsequent usage of money and property seized in criminal cases and how such money was then used” referring to the administration of Spota and former Suffolk District Attorney Timothy Sini.
Sini could not immediately be reached for comment.
Tierney said then that he had instituted a new policy dictating that asset forfeiture funds can only be spent if approved by Bode, the general counsel or special counsel after he took office in January 2022.
Tierney also said then that his office had retained about $2.2 million of previously frozen funds with the help of Sen. Chuck Schumer and members of Long Island’s congressional delegation, but was still precluded from participating in the program.
A comptroller’s audit last year of the federal asset forfeiture program at the district attorney’s office noted that it had been placed into “noncompliant status” by the Department of Justice.
The district attorney’s office added that “they do not believe that they are the target of the probe and fully expect to receive all forfeiture funds that have been earned at the conclusion of the inquiry,” the March 1, 2024 audit said.
Nicole Fuller is Newsday’s senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.
