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It is reported that The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct has initiated formal charges against Westchester County Surrogate's Court Judge Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr., and who has also been acting as a Westchester County Matrimonial Judge pursuant to Chief Administrative Judge Francis Nicolai....MORE...

A source close to the White Plains, New York court reveals that the decision to proceed with formal charges against Scarpino was made during the Judicial Ethics oversight committee's most recent meeting.

Formal charges against a judge by the N.Y. State Commission on Judicial Conduct are confidential unless the justice facing charges waives that confidentiality.

"I guess Surrogate Scarpino waived that confidentiality when he voiced his anger over the charges against him to his close circle of friends," says the source. "He's furious, and a bit shell-shocked because he thought he was protected—immune from ever receiving any formal charges. Everyone, including him, thought he was untouchable"

Though long-rumored to have been pushed out of the FBI, observers say Scarpino has always touted his short tenure as a special agent for the FBI before taking a job at Bankers Trust Company where, it is alleged, he was also pushed out. Bankers Trust Company later became a felon and is now owned by Deutsche Bank.

"Tony really believed that he could do anything and get away with it because he worked for the FBI for a few years," says the source. "He used to be the 'golden boy.'"

One FBI insider sees it another way. "No one at the bureau is happy that a former agent would attempt to use their past status as a special agent to get away with illegal or improper acts—especially as a judge," he says. "It makes us—and all law enforcement—look bad."

The exact formal charges by The Commission on Judicial Conduct are unknown at this time, but as readers are aware the list of possible issues facing the Surrogate is long and from various places from around the world.

Sources within the federal investigation into the City of Mt. Vernon have indicated that disturbing information concerning the former resident, Scarpino, has emerged. This while some Westchester attorneys have recently complained that Surrogate Scarpino has merely been acting as a "traffic cop" in court, simply directing attorneys to staff and not making any decisions himself.

Just recently, Surrogate Scarpino publicly expressed his displeasure with the Manhattan District Attorney's office involving the Brooke Astor Estate currently in his court.

It does appear, however, that the current charges against Scarpino do not involve the recent revelation that Surrogate's Court staff attorney Jody Keltz and her attorney-husband Carl Peluso somehow managed to move into a nice Scarsdale home from a estate once handled by Ms. Keltz. While current inquiries exist into the alleged unseemly appointment of guardians and real estate transactions under Scarpino's tenure, the questionable and highly unusual Keltz real estate matter occurred under Surrogate Scarpino's predecessor, Judge Albert Emanuelli.
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