The Utica OD reported that GroWest Inc. is initiating four separate legal actions against former agency officials and contractors, claiming that improper actions including possible fraud and negligence cost it millions of dollars in damages, court records obtained Thursday by the O-D show.
The actions bring weeks of intense speculation about an investigation of the nonprofit housing rehabilitation agency into sharper focus.
Among the defendants listed in the state Supreme Court papers: The agency's former executive director, John Denelsbeck, and its former finance director, Mary Hutton, both of whom resigned within the past two years.
In all, four separate summonses signed by Utica attorney J.K. Hage III and filed in the Oneida County Clerk's Office list various monetary damages ranging from $439,003 to $7.4 million. Hage's law firm has been enlisted by both GroWest and city government to investigate claims of “contractual improprieties” involving the use of federal and state funds by the agency over the past decade.
In an e-mail exchange, Hage said his firm expects to complete a report for GroWest and the city this month. The court actions are an attempt to preserve the legal options for the parties, if they wish to pursue them afterward, he said.
He declined further comment on the legal action, saying to do so would be to reveal elements of his strategy that he wishes to keep confidential.
The FBI has commenced a separate investigation into the matter, issuing subpoenas to the city and GroWest for records back to 2000. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which has traditionally been a sizable source of funding for GroWest initiatives, is also conferring with the various parties. Read more here.
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