The embattled head of the city Office of Payroll Administration has tendered his resignation today, amid a growing scandal surrounding consultants who allegedly ripped off $80 million of taxpayer money in cost-saving project turned criminal boondoggle.
Joel Bondy, the exective director of the agency, resigned today, a week after he was suspended for the alleged rip-off that happened on watch and raised questions about oversight of outsourced projects under the Bloomberg administration.
The scandal came to light last week when four payroll consultants hired for their supposed efficiency and cost-cutting were arrested and charged in an $80 million taxpayer ripoff.
They allegedly siphoned off millions in taxpayer money for the past five years by running an elaborate scheme using shell companies, kickbacks and international money laundering to steal millions from the CityTime payroll project, once touted as a model of computer efficiency by streamlining record-keeping.
In his weekly radio address last week, the mayor tried to downplay the embarrassing scandal, saying his administration can't investigate everything at all times.
The scandal led Bloomberg and the city comptroller to suspend Bondy, stop payments to a contractor he used to work for and remove CityTime from his agency.
Bloomberg admitted last week that the fraud should have been discovered earlier but said that it involved many layers of contracts, which can be tough to police.
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Payroll consultant Mark Mazer, his wife and mother, along with three other consultants were accused of using the city "as their own personal cash cow" lining their pockets and in some cases buying homes and fancy cars, said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
In raids yesterday, an unidentified suspect in the scandal arrived too late with a duffel bag at a bank where investigators were set to empty safety deposit boxes.
