The documents regarding the City of Hartford Treasurer Adam Cloud and his handling of an insurance payment , on face value look bad. But over the past week I have gathered numerous documents and e-mails and conducted hours of Interviews trying to get to the full story.
It is coming together and is taking some work to get it all into a format to be easily understandable .I hope that when it is posted and the documents are read, it will paint a clearer picture. I hope to get that done by the end of the day today.
In the meantime, Treasurer Cloud released a statement that I am posting now as well as the original memo from the Board of Education's Paula Altieri. Much more will be coming out on this
Don't you think that if the Treasurer had gotten a call from a vendor demanding payment that day, it would raise red flags, and you would refer the caller to the operating department that handled the contract, in this case the Risk Manager.
ReplyDeletewhat if the managing department was holding back the funds for performance reasons, or because the vendor was in breach of contract? What if the city was calling the performance bond, or the vendor had invoiced the city for something it hadn't received?
Oh forgot, the vendor Cloud paid did not invoice the city, yet he wired them money. And now blames the finance director who is not there to defend himself.
Cloud's comment that he had the best interests of the city in mind do not ring true.
You will probably find the emails and the invoices interesting and probably change your opinion once they are posted
ReplyDeleteCloud did a favor for a friend and a family business associate. He figured O'Garro who needed the cash ASAP for other business obligations, would get other money to pay the premiums before anyone noticed. When the premiums weren't paid apparently Cloud didn't take any action other then send out a press release weeks after he suspected the money was gone.
ReplyDeleteFollow the monry, i'm betting it went through Lewis ST with other city funds. Dear old Dad.
ReplyDeleteKevin,
ReplyDeleteSome time ago you said this:
“The fact that Cloud and his wife, from what I have been told, are the only two people in the Treasurer's Office able to transfer money electronically is troubling. His wife is also apparently responsible for cash reconciliations in the office. I have to ask why anyone would put themselves in a position where this would immediately be called into question at any time a potential problem arose.”
Now Jeff Cohen just did a story in which the Treasurer claims his wife works for the Finance Department even though she is clearly listed on the city's updated website as a supervisor in the Treasurer’s Office responsible for custody of funds.
Based on what has happened were you wrong then or are you wrong now?
Who knows what to believe anymore...
ReplyDeleteHartford needs to get back on track and so does the USA.
Everyone. Knows Adam's wife Nicole works in the Treasurers Office, the Finance Dept was a front when Adam was first elected, Nicole refused to transfer to Finance and retained a private attorney, check complaint is in HR and
ReplyDeleteCorp Counsel.
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteWhere are the documents showing Cloud's "side of the story"? Cohen has just put up a new story on O'Garro including this:
"Since then, he has cashed in on it, borrowing more than $800,000 against that property. Now, according to town documents, a company that gave O'Garro two of those loans said it plans to foreclose on one of them.
As for the third loan, worth about $530,000, O'Garro wasn't the only one on the hook for that money. He included his company, Hybrid, on the deed. All of the money has been borrowed since July, the same month when O'Garro was supposed to pay the city's insurance bill. "
A Conflict of interest........ Adam/Nicole.....but only a certain few can get away with it. And the Hartford saga continues.
ReplyDeleteCan't lay this one off on Segarra. Cloud is probably using his P-card to hire a PR firm to spin this sordid tale of conflicts and missing money.
ReplyDeleteNicole was also paid for working ftom "home", wink, wink. There are a few privileged city employees whom are allowed to work ftom "home" or come to work when they want. Kevin check who is coming to work @ 9, 10 or later, talk to HR, who monitors that they actually put in 8 hours and took a lunch, they would be leaving work @ 6, 7 or later. Go to city hall @ 5 they run out.
ReplyDeleteKevin, we had the same thing at the FD, this went on for years, she originally worked on the 3rd floor, became somekind of management, then would council the FFs , she had a FD car, office over at Hyland Park, no one really knew what time she came in or left, claimed she did work at home, would put in for comp.time, and best of all she retired with a nice pension. All those years she worked for the City-FD I don't even think she worked a full week.
ReplyDeleteDid you say Adam chose this vendor for an annual saving of 3,000, he could of saved 3 times that amount by staying out of the Hartford. Club with his P-Card.
ReplyDelete