{"id":347983,"date":"2021-10-04T02:59:02","date_gmt":"2021-10-03T23:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/nyc-homeless-shelter-operator-stashed-pals-on-payroll-records\/"},"modified":"2021-10-04T02:59:02","modified_gmt":"2021-10-03T23:59:02","slug":"nyc-homeless-shelter-operator-stashed-pals-on-payroll-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nyc-homeless-shelter-operator-stashed-pals-on-payroll-records\/","title":{"rendered":"#NYC homeless-shelter operator stashed pals on payroll: records"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#NYC homeless-shelter operator stashed pals on payroll: records<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>The CEO of one of the city\u2019s largest nonprofit shelters stashed kin on the payroll and funneled millions of dollars into companies he has financial stakes in \u2014 alleged glaring conflicts of interest that the city claims it\u2019s now cracking down on.<\/p>\n<p>The Post examined 2,000 pages of tax returns, contracting disclosures and legal documents involving CORE Services Group and found a  web of companies with extensive ties to the nonprofit\u2019s CEO, Jack Brown. <\/p>\n<p>Experts told The Post that the set-up <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ears to serve little purpose other than placing Brown at the center of lucrative transactions.<\/p>\n<p>Among the alleged questionable practices revealed by the documents:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Brown created a string of for-profit companies that have received millions of dollars to provide key services at CORE\u2019s shelters, documents show.<\/li>\n<li>A firm in which Brown holds a substantial stake received more than $3 million in rent over two years from his non-profit, according to tax filings.<\/li>\n<li>At least three family members of Brown or members of the CORE\u2019s various boards are employed by the nonprofit or related entities, according to records.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>City officials have now revealed that last month, they ordered CORE Services to shutter the for-profits companies Brown had established to provide services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny time a provider doesn\u2019t comply with our oversight efforts, we take corrective action, including requiring restructuring as necessary, ending business relationships in some cases, or in rare instances working with law enforcement to identify bad actors,\u201d said Department of Homeless Services spokesman Isaac McGinn. <\/p>\n<p>City Department of Investigation spokeswoman Diane Struzzi added, \u201cDOI is aware of concerns surrounding CORE and declines further comment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Questions about CORE\u2019s financial set-up come as the nonprofit has scored more than $800 million in city contracts since 2014, primarily to operate homeless shelters across the city.<\/p>\n<p>The Post first began inquiring about CORE and Brown in February after learning the nonprofit operated the shelter in Brooklyn\u2019s Gowanus neighborhood where accused subway ripper Rigoberto Lopez allegedly stayed before the A-train stabbing spree in February. The crime spree left two dead and two others badly injured.<\/p>\n<p>Brown made at least $501,000 from CORE and its affiliated nonprofits in 2019 alone, according to the group\u2019s tax returns from that year, which are the most recently available. <\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/74800933_2489355494683327_1620113985342799872_n.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=682\" alt=\"Brown's CORE Services Group operated the shelter where &quot;A-Train Ripper&quot; Rigoberto Lopez was staying.\" class=\"wp-image-19684879\" width=\"352\" height=\"527\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/74800933_2489355494683327_1620113985342799872_n.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=702 704w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/74800933_2489355494683327_1620113985342799872_n.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=527 528w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/74800933_2489355494683327_1620113985342799872_n.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=352 352w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/74800933_2489355494683327_1620113985342799872_n.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=176 176w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/74800933_2489355494683327_1620113985342799872_n.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 352px) 100vw, 352px\"\/><figcaption>Brown\u2019s CORE Services Group operated the shelter where \u201cA-Train Ripper\u201d Rigoberto Lopez was staying.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\"><a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Brown got another more than half a million dollars from his related for-profit subsidiaries,<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/03\/nyregion\/jack-brown-homeless-nyc-core-services.html\"> the New York Times said<\/a> in a report published Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>His brother, Curtis, was paid $140,000 the same year, the documents show.<\/p>\n<p>The brother of a member of the nonprofit\u2019s board of directors, Gordon Jackson, made at least $190,000 as CORE\u2019s head of community affairs.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, records reveal that another tightly linked nonprofit controlled by Brown employs Mallory Jones, whose husband sits on the subsidiary organization\u2019s board and made $174,000 that year. <\/p>\n<p>Previously, Brown was a top executive at a private prison operator, Correctional Services Corp, enmeshed in an early 2000s Albany bribery scandal. The company was fined $300,000. <\/p>\n<p>He later scored a contract from the federal government to operate a halfway house near the Navy Yard in Brooklyn. The site <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/12\/13\/nyregion\/at-federal-halfway-house-in-brooklyn-a-dubious-operator.html\">was exposed in newspaper reports<\/a> in the early 2010s as offering shoddy services.<\/p>\n<p>Several experts who examined CORE\u2019s tax returns and other filings reviewed by The Post said they are full of \u201cred flags\u201d that warrant further examination by local and state authorities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I\u2019ve seen is that there are lots of flags in these filings, and there may be a perfectly good explanation, but somebody ought to be looking at this,\u201d said Daniel Kurtz, the former head of the state Attorney <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General<\/a>\u2019s Charities Bureau.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are too many transactions where there are more questions than answers,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, on one part of the CORE\u2019s annual filings with the IRS, the organization certifies that its board is provided with copies of its tax returns before they are submitted to the feds, Kurtz said. But buried in a disclosure toward the end of the document, CORE clarifies that its \u201cpresident\u201d \u2014 Brown \u2014 \u201creviews [tax return] before it is filed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey tick the box saying the board is checking the tax returns before they are filed, but further back they acknowledge that it\u2019s the president [Jack Brown] doing the review,\u201d Kurtz said. \u201cYou can\u2019t have the president reviewing his own conflicts of interest \u2014 and both statements can\u2019t be true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A controversial shelter for seniors that CORE Services operates on a tree-lined stretch of Bergen Street in Brooklyn\u2019s working-class Crown Heights neighborhood provides a Rosetta Stone into Brown\u2019s operation.<\/p>\n<p>Residents <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dnainfo.com\/new-york\/20170307\/crown-heights\/bergen-street-homeless-shelter-meeting\/\">sued over the plans in 2017<\/a>, charging that city officials were effectively dumping the Big Apple\u2019s homelessness crisis into their community.<\/p>\n<p>Officials and the residents settled the same year, after agreeing to a host of concessions including a promise from CORE that it would retain \u201cthe services of a security company to provide uniformed security personnel who will be on site twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven days a week.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/CORE2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"At least three family members of Brown or board members aee employed by CORE Services Group, according to records. \" class=\"wp-image-19684884\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/CORE2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/CORE2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/CORE2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>At least three family members of Brown or board members are employed by CORE Services Group, according to records. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Facebook<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That same month, Brown filed paperwork to establish a for-profit security contractor, ProCore LLC, which accounts for virtually all of Core Services spending on contracted spending, tax documents show.<\/p>\n<p>It netted $7.6 million of the $7.7 million that CORE spent on \u2018security and monitoring\u2019 services in 2018, according to the filings. The next year, in 2019, Core Services paid ProCore was paid $22.7 million for \u201csecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The for-profit is one of at least three companies that Brown established to provide services for CORE\u2019s sprawling shelter operation, which also includes Flavor Foods LLC for food distribution and Core Facilities Management for property management.<\/p>\n<p>The Mayor\u2019s Office of Contracts and City Comptroller Scott Stringer raised questions about CORE and Brown\u2019s \u201cbusiness affiliations\u201d in July 2017, as the contract to run the Bergen Street shelter wound its way through the bureaucracy.<\/p>\n<p>CORE responded by telling officials its new for-profit companies \u2014 and a new holding company created for them \u2014 were wholly owned by the non-profit and \u201cpart of a recently formed corporate structure that will enable CORE to further its mission.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But CORE told the IRS something different when it disclosed the new holding company on a tax return for an affiliated nonprofit in 2018, the nearly identically named Core Services Group NY. <\/p>\n<p>It described Core Companies Inc. as owned by an \u201cofficer\u201d of the non-profit.<\/p>\n<p>Only two executives received compensation from the affiliated non-profit that year, one of whom was Brown. Brown is also listed as the holding company\u2019s CEO in state records.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/JBrown-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=225\" alt=\"Brown also allegedly created for-profit companies that have received millions to provide services for CORE shelters.\" class=\"wp-image-19684895\" width=\"325\" height=\"434\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/JBrown-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=163 162w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/JBrown-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 325px) 100vw, 325px\"\/><figcaption>Brown also allegedly created for-profit companies that have received millions to provide services for CORE shelters.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Facebook<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>It did not disclose the connection on its 2019 return. <\/p>\n<p>However, that year it did reveal that it employs Jones as its vice president of human resources.<\/p>\n<p>The tax returns filed by the main CORE Services nonprofit in 2018 and 2019 also revealed the non-profit has shelled out $3.1 million to a company that Brown has a substantial stake in to rent the Bergen Street shelter building.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNew York City government\u2019s [oversight process] is badly broken. How many red flags do they need waved in their faces?\u201d said John Kaehny, the executive director of good-government group Reinvent Albany, to The Post.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a chain of failure here that includes the Mayor\u2019s Office of Contracting, DOI and the New York City comptroller.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CORE Services told The Post in a statement Sunday that the for-profit companies Brown runs are owned by the non-profit and claimed that city officials signed off on the arrangement. <\/p>\n<p>The rep disputed <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> accounts from February that placed Lopez, the accused subway slasher, as a resident of the motel-turned-shelter CORE runs in Brooklyn, claiming he only stayed there from July 8 to July 20, 2020. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis story contains numerous inaccuracies, including false claims made by the City of New York, and rehashes outdated and unsubstantiated allegations against CORE or its leadership in a seeming effort to attack the integrity of a successful African American business leader,\u201d the spokesman said.<\/p>\n<p>The rep did not elaborate on the alleged \u201cinaccuracies\u201d besides the claim about Lopez.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 <em>Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton and Sam Raskin<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/10\/03\/nyc-homeless-shelter-operator-stashed-pals-on-payroll-records\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#NYC homeless-shelter operator stashed pals on payroll: records&#8221; The CEO of one of the city\u2019s largest nonprofit shelters stashed kin on the payroll and funneled millions of dollars into companies he has financial stakes in \u2014 alleged glaring conflicts of interest that the city claims it\u2019s now cracking down on. The Post examined 2,000 pages&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":347984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/core1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[116975,11154,71038],"class_list":["post-347983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-10-3-21","tag-ceos","tag-homeless-shelters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}