ALBANY — When a state agency head was confronted with using public employees for his personal errands, as Alan Hevesi did, the official said he didn’t believe the convicted ex-comptroller had done anything wrong, the state inspector general revealed yesterday.
A damning 16-page report by Inspector General Joseph Fisch found that former Real Property Services Director Lee Kyriacou ordered staffers to book a family trip to California and to chauffeur his daughter to doctor visits. Kyriacou commented that the limits on his ability to tap the state’s resources were “stupid,” the report says.
His wife allegedly got in on the act, too, ordering Kyriacou’s state secretary to set up tours of potential apartments in the Albany area.
Furthermore, the probe revealed, Kyriacou routinely failed to account for hours he spent outside the office, and didn’t claim personal use of his state-issued cellphone and state-assigned Chevy Impala on his taxes.
Kyriacou, whose former agency administers property-tax rebates, quit his $120,800-a-year post in December.
He faces no threat of discipline because he’s no longer on the payroll.
Kyriacou’s attorney, Karl Sleight, said, “The evidence does not support the IG’s findings that Mr. Kyriacou abused his staff or state resources.
“This report illustrates why it is difficult to attract accomplished private-sector individuals to public service.”
Probers found that Kyriacou dismissed repeated warnings about his behavior by subordinates.
When a colleague noted that similar behavior led to Hevesi’s 2006 felony fraud conviction, Kyriacou “stated he saw nothing wrong with Hevesi’s conduct,” according to the report.
“These rules are stupid,” another ex-colleague quoted him as saying.
“I’m here to run an agency, and whatever it takes for me to get that done should be provided to me.”