Probe of Priest's Nonprofit Explores State Connection
By Brendan J. Lyons
Federal and state investigators are examining the circumstances under which a former state assemblyman from Brooklyn, William F. Boyland Sr., was put on the payroll of a sprawling nonprofit organization founded by Albany's Father Peter Young after Boyland, succeeded by his son, arranged a series of state grants for the organization. The grants, called member items, totaled at least $1.2 million over four years beginning in 2006. Details began to emerge Thursday about that and other allegations behind Wednesday's raid of the offices of the Altamont Program, the parent organization for Father Young's network of services. The wide-ranging investigation became public when the state attorney general's office and FBI used search warrants to seize records from three Capital Region offices used the Albany-based organization, which runs more than 100 facilities for homeless, former convicts and people with addiction problems. The investigation is delving into several years of financial records, officials said. Boyland Sr. left state office in 2006, but not before he and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver authorized a $300,000 community project grant for Altamont in 2004, according to Assembly records. The grant, managed by the Department of Health, was a legislative earmark — what lawmakers in New York call a member item, a practice that has fallen out of favor in recent years. Boyland's son, William F. Boyland Jr., who succeeded his father in the Assembly, helped arrange three successive $300,000 legislative grants between 2006 and 2009 that were managed by the state's Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, records show. It's unclear how long the elder Boyland worked for 820 River Street, a Troy-based offshoot of the Altamont Program. The 820 River Street facility also operates a large shelter and rehabilitation center on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, where Boyland was said to have been employed as a housing coordinator. It's unclear how long Boyland worked for the nonprofit or what he was paid. A spokesperson for the Altamont Program declined to comment. Young, 82, is recovering from hip surgery and was not available for comment. He has not been identified as a target in the probe or accused of wrongdoing. A person familiar with the matter said investigators and FBI agents interviewed an employee of the Altamont Program on Wednesday, following the raids, who provided information about the organization's finances. The employee also provided details on Boyland's employment and said that many employees questioned at the time what Boyland did and whether he was provided a credit card. Boyland Sr. could not be reached for comment Thursday. Boyland's daughter, Tracy L. Boyland, 44, who was formerly a New York City Council member, is employed by the Altamont Program as an outreach coordinator in Brooklyn, according to a person with knowledge of her situation. It's unclear how long Tracy Boyland has worked for the nonprofit. The Times Union reported Wednesday that the investigation is focusing on the organization's use of grant funding, payroll expenditures and allegations that Dennis Bassat, a former director 820 River Street Inc. in Troy, had embezzled funds and misused a credit card. Bassat was arrested Friday in Hernando County, Fla., and is scheduled to be returned to Troy next week. He has waived extradition and is being held without bail on a warrant based on a sealed indictment pending in Rensselaer County. Bassat, 53, was fired from his job less than two years ago after officials at 820 River Street said they discovered he had allegedly issued checks from a business account to fictitious employees and then pocketed the money. The checks were written in amounts less than $600 in an apparent effort to avoid detection, officials said. However, another former employee of the organization, who has been interviewed by investigators in the case, said that Bassat was found to have used the nonprofit's credit accounts to pay for personal expenses. The person spoke to the Times Union on the condition of not being identified. Records show that Bassat served time in state prison in the late 1980s for a drug conviction in New York City. He entered one of Young's programs after leaving prison and, like many others who signed on to the rehabilitation program, went on to work for the organization. Kevin A. Luibrand, an attorney who is the legal adviser and president of 820 River Street, said the organization notified state authorities of Bassat's conduct about 18 months ago. Last year, the state Commission on Quality of Care began an audit of 820 River Street and the Altamont Program. The audit is ongoing. Officials at 820 River Street said they also terminated other employees who were alleged to have aided Bassat in issuing and cashing the fraudulent checks. Bassat also was accused of being paid a large amount of vacation time that he was not entitled to receive. Wednesday's raids took place at the Altamont Program's headquarters on Duane Avenue in Schenectady, an office at the Schuyler Inn in Menands, a converted motel used as a training and housing facility for Vesta Community Housing Development Board Inc., a subsidiary of the program; and an office on Eagle Street in Albany that has served as Young's office. Young is the cornerstone of four nonprofit organizations under the Altamont Program umbrella that he founded in Albany decades ago. The organizations provide housing, job training, employment and substance-abuse counseling to several thousand clients, including homeless people and former convicts. Young does not receive a salary for his work and has donated his chaplain's salary to the program for more than 20 years, the group said in a statement issued Wednesday. blyons@timesunion.com • 518-454-5547 • @blyonswriter
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