State DEC project manager from Utica area indicted in contractor-fraud scheme

A former project manager with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is facing charges he operated an “elaborate” contractor-fraud scheme while employed by the state.

New York State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Thursday announced the felony indictment of David Comenale, 51, of New York Mills.

Comenale on Thursday was arraigned in Oneida County Court on two counts of grand larceny in the third degree, both felonies, according to a news release from Leahy Scott’s office.

Comenale is due back in Oneida County Court July 20.

The investigation
Leahy Scott’s two-year investigation found Comenale used his position as DEC project manager to implement a “complex” scheme.

Comenale oversaw various projects across New York, the inspector general’s office said. The alleged arrangement involved securing and dispensing funds purportedly meant for a construction project on Staten Island by “siphoning the money into shell companies he controlled.”

Comenale ran the scheme in 2013 by borrowing $62,500 from Midlantic Environmental, Inc. of New Hartford, an asbestos-abatement company with which he routinely worked, according to the release.

He had indicated plans to use the borrowed funding to pay for electrical work at the Cardinal O’Connor Lighthouse on Staten Island and that the state would reimburse Midlantic through another contractor that the DEC “routinely” used for projects.

The probe found that Comenale directed $21,000 of the borrowed money to the electrical work at the Staten Island job site, while he siphoned “much of the rest” through several companies that he either controlled or owned.

Comenale “never used” the money for a DEC project, according to Leahy Scott’s office.

The probe also found that in 2014, Comenale used another contractor he routinely worked with for DEC projects to steal about $26,000 through a fraudulent loan scheme involving Adirondack Bank.

The contractor took out the loan and “immediately” turned over the loan proceeds to Comenale through a separate company that Comenale controlled.

The DEC fired Comenale earlier this year “in the wake of the investigation,” according to the release.

“This defendant used his position overseeing projects for the state to conjure a series of elaborate and complex financial frauds, ultimately enriching himself and violating the trust of the public he was supposed to be serving,” Leahy Scott said. “I will relentlessly pursue anyone who uses their public position and authority for fraudulent self-entitlement.”

“Government employees must not use their positions as trusted public servants to take advantage of companies,” Schneiderman added in the release.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com