Joye test before/after

One of the last items entered into evidence during the retrial of Edward Mangano on federal corruption-related charges was a series of financial disclosure forms the former county executive filed with Nassau’s ethics board.

Kevin Keating, Mangano’s defense attorney, made much of one disclosure Mangano made in the forms — a no-show job for his wife, Linda, which had come her way courtesy of restaurateur Harenda Singh, the couple’s former friend.

The prosecution, however, zeroed in on what Mangano did not disclose — including two expensive chairs, vacations, meals and the purchase and installation of wood flooring for the Mangano’s bedroom — all paid for by Singh as well.

“These forms are devastating evidence proving Mangano’s corrupt intent,” Asst. U.S. Attorney Christopher Caffarone told jurors, who would go on, days later, to convict the couple. “…He’s not listing bribes on these forms or he would have wound up in that chair a lot earlier,” the prosecutor went on, pointing toward the defense table.

Even after the trial, government, Mangano’s disclosure forms — Exhibits #445 through #450 — remain relevant.

Over the past few weeks, the issues of both disclosure and Nassau’s ethics board have been the subject of two news conferences — by Laura Curran, Nassau’s county executive, and Jack Schnirman, the county’s comptroller.

Curran, standing on the steps of the historic courthouse that houses Nassau’s executive and legislative branches, announced creation of an application that would allow 700 county employees — designated as “policy makers” — to file required financial disclosure forms via computer, rather than, as Mangano and others in the past have done, on paper.

Rather than having forms that often, as Curran said, ended up being “hidden away in a basement,” the new database could, for the first time, tie into Nassau’s contract and vendor contracting systems as a way for the ethics board to spot potential conflicts of interest.

One caveat, however: The database will not be open to perusal by the public — although the ability to request redacted versions of forms for individuals remain an option, through the state’s Freedom of Information law. (By contrast, disclosure forms filed to New York State are available — in unredacted form — online.)

Schnirman, standing outside the same courthouse two weeks later, would speak about a 134-page report (which I read, so you wouldn’t have to) his office issued on Nassau’s ethics board — which includes his office’s request, and the board attorney’s refusal, to grant auditors access to disclosure forms.

Curran has appointed new board members, Schnirman noted, who appear to be moving towards making board operations more transparent, and hte board itself more active.

Under Mangano, however, the comptroller’s report said, the independent board of ethics “failed its mission” in a variety of ways, including being inactive at a time when federal officials were investigating political corruption in Nassau.

One result of those investigations was the indictment of Mangano, and in March, his conviction on corruption-related charges, after a retrial. He and Linda Mangano, who was convicted of conspiracy and lying to FBI agents, are slated to be sentenced in October.

Before sentencing, however, Mangano, will be required to pay $526,606 under a forfeiture order signed earlier this month by U.S. District Court Judge Joan M. Azrack.

The payment covers one item Mangano disclosed in his forms: a total $450,000 Linda Mangano received from Singh between 2010 and 2014, while Mangano was Nassau’s top elected official.

But the forfeiture order also items from Singh that Mangano’s forms did not include: a massage chair worth $3,623.73, an office chair worth $3,371.90, free meals at Singh’s restaurant worth $42,000, airfare and hotel expenses worth $19,227.32 and hardwood floors worth $4,105.

Mangano also forfeited a watch Singh bought for Mangano’s son, for which the former restaurant owner paid.$7,304.

That, as the prosecution pointed out, wasn’t on Mangano’s financial disclosure forms either.