Metro

DA eyes Halloran finance flubs

Controversial City Councilman Dan Halloran may be locked in a heated battle for Congress, but a bigger problem facing him could be state election regulators and criminal prosecutors.

Halloran (left) is 2 1/2 years in arrears on filing campaign-finance reports for his 2009 Council run, and, as a result, the state Board of Elections has sent the matter to the Albany district attorney for investigation and possible prosecution, The Post has learned.

Election board spokesman Thomas Connolly said Halloran has missed five filing deadlines, dating to January 2010, when the Republican lawyer from Queens first took his Council seat. Election regulators have issued default judgments against Halloran for each absent filing. After a year, board judgments become subject to possible criminal penalties.

As of Friday, Halloran owed the state $3,243 in fines plus interest, which keeps growing, according to records.

Halloran, 40, yesterday offered little excuse, saying, “I don’t file the campaign-finance forms because I’m not the treasurer with the campaign . . . I’m not the treasurer. I don’t know off the top of my head.”

He is facing Democratic Assemblywoman Grace Meng to replace Rep. Gary Ackerman.

Halloran has criticized Meng for, among other things, failing to comply with federal regs requiring congressional candidates to file financial-disclosure forms more than four months after entering the race.

After learning from The Post about Halloran’s situation with the Board of Elections, Meng spokesman Austin Finan tore into the Republican.

“Dan Halloran’s arrogance is dumbfounding,” Finan said. “We fully expect the district attorney’s office to follow through with criminal charges against Mr. Halloran and for the councilman to come clean and explain himself . . . He is either wholly incompetent, supremely arrogant or desperately attempting to hide fundraising improprieties.”

To win his Council seat, Halloran spent nearly $277,000 but only took in $166,400. Auditors are still reviewing his documents even as the councilman’s creditors have contacted the city Campaign Finance Board complaining they are owed payments.

Halloran said he has done everything he has to, to close out the books on the ’09 campaign.