Charges to be brought against CRC for allegedly misusing public funds in Monroe County

Rochester, New York – The alleged misappropriation of public funds in Monroe County may now result in criminal proceedings.

Adam Bello, the executive of Monroe County, previously stated that the Community Resource Collaborative was the subject of a lengthier inquiry by the county Office of Public Integrity than it would have been via a conventional audit.

The 38-page study exposes serious financial mismanagement and clarifies purportedly fraudulent charges disclosed by Cameron Community Ministries, one of the organizations that the CRC funds under the American Rescue Plan Act.

This occurred barely a week after the Attorney General’s office of New York State declared it would be dissolving the CRC.

According to the audit report, “The findings uncovered by OPI’s investigation violate the grant agreement and may also be found to violate state or federal law.”

According to Bello, the county has given the FBI and the AG’s office access to the findings.

“Let this OPI investigation and EFPR audit serve as a notice to anyone who thinks they can get away with defrauding Monroe County that we will never stop in our efforts to uncover waste, fraud and abuse,” Bello stated.

Legislator Rachel Barnhart of Monroe County also commented on the investigation’s conclusions, stating that they supported the worries she had expressed in a previous study that she had written months before.

“I’m very grateful for the Office of Public Integrity’s audit, but it did not look at why the Bello administration awarded this contract in the first place, despite numerous red flags,” Barnhart stated. “…and wanted to keep funding the Neighborhood Collaborative Project even after I raised red flags about numerous conflicts of interest and a problematic structure.”

When I contacted Cameron Community Ministries for a statement, they informed me that they did not have one at this time.