No free lunch, Mr. DA – hit with $15G fine
BROOKLYN’S top law enforcement official will have to cough up a hefty $15,000 fine for illegally making taxpayers pick up the tab for his daily lunch and dinners, the city Conflicts of Interest Board announced Wednesday.
For more than a year, Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson regularly got the city to reimburse him for his meals during weekdays, nights and weekends, the board revealed.
Thompson also, at times, had his personal security detail pay for his meals out of pocket — then have them put in for the reimbursement.
Total reimbursements for both totaled more than $5,500.
In agreeing to settle the charges, Thompson will pay the $15,000 fine and admit that what he did was in violation of the city’s conflict rules.
“I accept complete responsibility for this violation and regret it occurred,” Thompson said in a statement. “As Brooklyn district attorney, I am committed to maintaining the integrity of my office.”
In a four-page document, Thompson admitted that for the first five months after he took office in January 2014, he had his security detail pick up the cost for his daily meals out of their own pockets. They then put in for reimbursement totaling $2,043 during that time.
Thompson claimed he “understood this to be normal office procedure.”
That came to a halt in May 2014, when, Thompson says, his staff informed him that “the cost of my daytime meals could violate New York City policy.”
Thompson paid the office back for the daytime meals, but then implemented his own policy allowing the DA’s office to pay for his night and weekend meals “incurred while working.” This continued through February 2015, with the DA’s office paying for $1,489 of Thompson’s meals.
During that time, security employees also continued to front some of these meals with their own cash to the tune of an additional $1,992.