The charges against the community leader, William E. Rapfogel, 58, stem from an investigation by the state’s attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, and the state comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, into his stewardship of the social service organization, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty.
The inquiry focused on allegations that Mr. Rapfogel conspired with someone at the Met Council’s insurance broker, Century Coverage Corporation, to pad the agency’s insurance payments by several hundred thousand dollars a year, according to a person briefed on the investigation. The money, that person said, was funneled into campaign contributions to politicians, who provided government grants to the nonprofit organization, and into Mr. Rapfogel’s pockets.
Mr. Rapfogel surrendered early on Tuesday morning at the First Precinct station house in Lower Manhattan, where he was fingerprinted and photographed, one of the people with knowledge of the matter said. He was scheduled to be arraigned later in the day in Criminal Court in Manhattan on grand larceny and money laundering charges, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the charges had not yet been announced.
A criminal complaint expected to be unsealed at Mr. Rapfogel’s arraignment was said to accuse him of stealing $ 1 million, one of the people said.
Paul L. Shechtman, Mr. Rapfogel’s lawyer, said in a text message that he had no comment. Spokesmen for Mr. Schneiderman and Mr. DiNapoli also had no comment.
But Mr. Rapfogel has acknowledged some wrongdoing, issuing a statement after he was fired last month saying, “I deeply regret the mistakes I have made that led to my departure.” Mr. Shechtman said earlier this month that “Willie Rapfogel is a good man who made serious mistakes in judgment.”
The investigation by state authorities began after officials at the Met Council received an anonymous letter indicating improprieties with insurance payments and the agency’s board hired a law firm to conduct a close review of the organization’s finances, according to a person briefed on the review. When that review uncovered evidence indicating that the payments had been padded by about $ 200,000 a year, they turned the information over to the authorities, the person said.
Century Coverage’s owner, Joseph Ross, has also been a focus of the state investigation, which is continuing. His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, has said he was “aware of the investigation and intends to address the issues raised in a responsible fashion.”
The respected, 40-year-old charity had expenditures of $ 112 million last year, money that went to help more than 100,000 people, most of them elderly. Among other things, it provided food assistance to 60,000 people, home-care services to 14,000 and affordable housing to 1,500.
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