IRS Looking at Surrogate, Lawyer and Bank Chairman Link

Source Reveals the IRS is looking at the connection between Westchester County Surrogate Court Judge Anthony A. Scarpino, attorney Frank W. Streng, of White Plains-based McCarthy Fingar, and Yonkers-based Hudson Valley Bank Chairman William Griffin.

WOULD THE IRS BE INTERESTED IN WHAT’S GOING ON UNDER THE TABLES BETWEEN SCARPINO, GRIFFIN AND STRENG?

Are tax-free loans the new brown-bag payoffs that corrupt our courts?

Equity loans to judges and “gifts” to a judge’s family are not subject to annual reporting by judges, and are not income reported to the IRS. Loans for $400,000 to Surrogate Anthony Scarpino were made by Hudson Valley Bank which is controlled by William Griffin. At least $300,000 just happened to be paid to Scarpino prior to trials in which Griffin appeared before Scarpino as a witness and litigant against the Carvel family, who were represented by Frank Streng.

In 1982, the Bank and its vice president John Finnerty (who remains on the Hudson Valley Bank Business Development Board) faced and survived indictment for phony “loan” schemes and “various counts of larceny and misapplication of property”.

Why did Griffin’s bank “loan” Scarpino $400K ?

Lawyer William Griffin is the controlling shareholder and chairman of Hudson Valley Bank. Griffin also alleges to control multi-million dollar charities (including Carvel family charities “Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation”, “International Institute of Health Foods”, and others).

New York State Department of Banking found that Griffin’s Hudson Valley Bank altered the names on at least $5 million in U.S. Treasury securities allegedly after Thomas Carvel’s death, diverting the funds into an account co-owned and controlled by one of Griffin’s cohorts. Multi-millions that “disappeared” from all Carvel family account records at Hudson Valley Bank were one of the subjects of litigation before Scarpino. Is it any surprise that the diverted money was never returned to Agnes or Pamela Carvel?

What favors did Griffin get from undisclosed “loans”?

Neither Scarpino nor Griffin disclosed their $400,000 financial arrangements at any time. Scarpino denied a trial by jury in all Carvel cases. In the trials before Scarpino, Griffin sought to take ALL CARVEL FAMILY MONEY and end fraud investigations into the theft of over $250 million from the estates of Thomas and Agnes Carvel. Is it any surprise that Scarpino ruled in favor of Griffin against Agnes and Pamela Carvel?

Has Scarpino repeatedly paid Streng hundreds of thousands for estate litigation for throwing cases?

Streng advertised on his web site that he was an advisor to Scarpino. In other words, doesn’t Streng work for Scarpino?  Neither Streng nor Scarpino disclosed their relationship at any time in the Carvel cases. Was it ever disclosed in any case?  Pamela Carvel personally paid almost $1 million to Streng to fight Griffin’s involvement in charity frauds and criminal real estate scams.

Is it any surprise that Streng did nothing against Griffin? Is it any surprise that Scarpino ordered Streng to be paid almost $1 million in legal fees, but Streng refused to reimburse to Pamela Carvel the duplicate payments Streng received?  Does the IRS know Streng actually received payment almost double of what he billed?

Did Scarpino repay $400K tax-free “loans” from Griffin’s bank?

The records of Westchester County Clerk and Board of Elections indicate that Westchester County Surrogate’s Court judge Anthony Scarpino received (tax-free) $400,000 from Hudson Valley Bank.

Of that sum, $100,000 was an alleged pre-election “loan” to Scarpino before his election as Surrogate. What was the security pledged for that loan? Has Scarpino ever repaid any of it?

The remaining $300,000 was alleged equity loans secured by Scarpino’s real estate in Westchester. How much of these “loans” did Scarpino repay after he ruled in Griffin’s favor?

Is the Hudson Valley Bank Development Board just another covert pay-off to loyalist politicos?

Hudson Valley Bank also runs something called “Hudson Valley Bank’s Business Development Board” of which the bank itself says, “members benefit from their association with Hudson Valley Bank” “The Board of Directors looks to fill these positions with highly-qualified professionals, who can assist in achieving the Bank’s goals.”

How much of the Bank’s record “profits” are really from diverted estate and charity assets?

James Landy is President and CEO of Hudson Valley Bank. Landy was also chairman of the board of St. Joseph’s Medial Center (and William Griffin’s wife was on that board) when Griffin bought the property next to the hospital just before a purchase grant for the very same property was given to the hospital from the Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation. Not only was charity grant-money funneled to Griffin but Hudson Valley Bank also kept substantial portions of the property for itself.

Mathew Landy is James Landy’s cousin. Griffin hired Mathew Landy as the alleged office manager over one secretary for the Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation – a foundation gives grants only to Griffin’s insiders since Thomas Carvel’s death.

Marc Oxman was covertly installed as guardian ad litem for Agnes Carvel without any evidence and without any hearing or trial. Oxman was hired to procure Agnes Carvel’s death by stress in London to eliminate Agnes’ claims against Griffin -- and so he did. Oxman is one of the members of the Development Board who “assists in achieving the Bank’s goals” along with Oxman’s law partner Andrew Natale, Jr.

Another Development Board member is Daniel Hollis, partner to Stuart Shamberg, attorney for Charles Lambert -- the Westchester County Public Administrator who hijacked control of Agnes Carvel’s estate into Westchester through alleged perjury by Griffin’s lawyers. Griffin’s lawyer’s alleged an “emergency” requiring the appointment of the Public Administrator for the sale 2000 acres of Carvel Dutchess County property for almost half the market value to an alleged con-man lawyer who already declared bankruptcy six months earlier -- owing Carvel businesses over $600,000. Is it any surprise that Griffin pulled off this hokey appointment at a moment when the Westchester Court lacked jurisdiction and when the law required that ALL PROCEEDINGS BE STAYED until the formal substitution of Agnes’ executor into the proceedings?

In addition to being a member of the Bank’s Development Board, Edward A. Sheeran is Executive Director of Yonkers Industrial Development Agency (“IDA”). IDA is the agency that played a part in the phony St. Joseph Hospital grant where Griffin purchased a property only after he knew his cronies in the Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation approved a $2,000,000 purchase grant for a $700,000 parcel of land. Over $1,300,000 allegedly disappeared along with a corner of the property that was a branch office of Hudson Valley Bank. The IDA then stepped in to provide financing.

Michael Spicer is President and CEO of St. Joseph’s Hospital, which is the recipient of numerous unaccounted-for grants from the Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation controlled by Griffin. Is it any surprise that Spicer is also “achieving the Bank’s goals” by being on the Development Board?

Lawyer Paul Amicucci is listed as being part of Griffin’s law firm. Paul Amicucci is also listed among the “Hudson Valley Bank Business Development Board” and listed as lawyer to many of the “charities” controlled by Griffin. On 6 October 2006, Griffin, allegedly acting for the Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation, sold Amicucci’s brother Agnes Carvel’s $10 million former residence with 19 arcres in Ardsley, New York for only $2 million. On that same day, 6 October 2006, Amicucci’s shell company (formed in March 2006) assigned the whole property back to Griffin through Hudson Valley Bank as an alleged lease assignment for security for an alleged US$1.3 million mortgage from Hudson Valley Bank. Could this be a means for cheating Agnes’ creditors and beneficiaries who are entitled to the real income from the property?

This same Ardsley property was appraised at $1.1 million in 1990 when Thomas Carvel died. While all surrounding real estate has increased in value 300-400%, the Carvels’ unique, exclusive, mountaintop acreage property only increased about 82%. When this real estate scheme was brought before Scarpino when discovered by Pamela Carvel in 2007. Scarpino did nothing. Could this be another one of Griffin’s schemes for transferring control and profit from a property without paying taxes on the transactions? Anyone still surprised at that???

So many questions, too few answers......