BANKRUPT BANKER
Six Charged in $80 Million CityTime Fraud - WSJ.com: "Four consultants, as well as one consultant's mother and wife, were charged Wednesday with defrauding the city out of more than $80 million related to its long-delayed computerized timekeeping and payroll system.
Federal prosecutors alleged Mark Mazer, a consultant on the CityTime automated timekeeping project, steered more than $76 million in city funds to two consulting firms, including one believed to be run by a relative. The firms then secretly kicked back more than $24.5 million to Mr. Mazer, who was being paid more than $4.4 million for his work.
The CityTime project, which began in the 1990s, has been plagued by cost overruns. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has called it a 'disaster.'
The project's costs skyrocketed to more than $738 million from $68 million, and in September the city reached an agreement in which it wouldn't make any more payments related to the project.
'In an elaborate scheme that included shell companies, kickbacks, international money laundering, Mark Mazer and his cohorts allegedly used the city as their own personal cash cow,' said Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan."
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