Say He Took Election Funds For Himself
City Council Member Ruben Wills was the latest lawmaker to wear handcuffs last Wednesday, May 7, after being indicted for allegedly embezzling campaign and charitable funds for his own personal use.
The 42-year-old lawmaker proclaimed his innocence to reporters and refused to resign following his arraignment last Wednesday afternoon at Queens Criminal Court in Kew Gardens. Nonetheless, he reportedly stepped down as chair of the City Council subcommittee on drug abuse and was stripped of the authority to apply for discretionary funds for his district, which includes parts of Richmond Hill, South Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park.
Law enforcement sources said Wills allegedly collaborated with a relative-Jelani Mills-to steal $30,000 in funds provided by the city’s Campaign Finance Board (CFB) and the state Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). According to the indictment, Wills allegedly pocketed $30,000 in city and state funds, spending some of it on luxury items such as a $750 Louis Vuitton handbag purchased from Macy’s department store.
“The crimes Mr. Wills is accused of committing represent a shameful breach of the trust his constituents placed in him,” Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in announcing the charges last Wednesday afternoon. “New Yorkers are repeatedly asked to have faith in our leaders, and it appears that faith has been shattered once again.”
“Public funds intended to help people were allegedly used for shopping trips to high-end stores,” added State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. “Charges such as these are an insult to the Councilman’s constituents and to the taxpayers who paid the bills.”
During his 2009 campaign for the City Council seat he now holds, prosecutors said, then-candidate Wills received matching funds from the CFB, a portion of which ($11,500) was paid to a company called Micro Targeting.
Though Wills claimed Micro Targeting translated and distributed campaign material, it was reported, the entity was actually a shell company that enabled Mills to redirect the proceeds to the nonprofit organization NY 4 Life.
Mills founded NY 4 Life, which was part of former State Sen. Shirley Huntley’s scheme to steal $33,000 in funds from the OCFS. Wills previously served as Huntley’s chief of staff.
Huntley served a one-year prison term after allegedly cooperating with prosecutors in ongoing investigations of public corruption.
After the $13,000 in funds were redirected by Mills into NY 4 Life’s bank account, authorities said, Wills began using the proceeds for his own personal benefit. The Wills campaign provided false documents to the CFB indicating that it purportedly spent city funds according to the law.
Schneiderman noted that Wills allegedly kept $19,000 of the $33,000 provided to NY 4 Life by the OCFS for four public service projects. Law enforcement sources said one program costing $14,000 was actually conducted by the nonprofit group.
It is alleged that Wills used the state funds for political and personal expenses, including purchases made at Nordstrom and Century 21 department stores.
As with the CFB, NY 4 Life reportedly provided the OCFS with false documents indicating purported, lawful expenditures that were never made.
Wills was arrested last Wednesday morning on charges of third-degree grand larceny, firstdegree scheme to defraud, first-degree falsifying business records and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing. Mills was charged with third-degree grand larceny and first-degree falsifying business records.
Each of them face up to seven years behind bars if convicted.
Investigators Gerard Matheson and Angel LaPorte, supervised by Chief Investigator Dominick Zarrella of the Attorney General’s Investigations Bureau, conducted the inquiry with the assistance of Analyst KerryAnn Rodriguez and Investigative Analyst Brian Selfon. Assisting in the investigation were the State Comptroller’s Investigation Unit and the Bureau of State Expenditures.
Schneiderman thanked the city Department of Investigation, the CFB and the OCFS for their assistance.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Jerrold L. Steigman and Rachel Doft of the Public Integrity Bureau, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Daniel G. Cort and Deputy Bureau Chief Stacy Aronowitz and the overall supervision of Executive Deputy Attorney General Kelly Donovan.
