New York State Assemblyman William F. Boyland Charged With Mail Fraud Conspiracy For Defrauding New York State

A second superseding indictment against New York State Assemblyman William F. Boyland, Jr. was filed today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Boyland has served in the New York State Assembly representing the 55th District in Brooklyn since 2003. As alleged in the latest indictment, from July 2007 to September 2010, Boyland engaged in a scheme to defraud New York State by steering public funds to a Brooklyn-based non-profit organization (“Non-Profit A”) and then directing that a portion of those public funds be used to pay for community events promoting Boyland and on goods such as t-shirts imprinted with the slogan “Team Boyland” which were distributed at those events. ¹

To conceal this scheme, Boyland allegedly directed members of his staff to instruct vendors involved in the community events to falsely list Non-Profit A, and not Boyland, as the purchaser on invoices for goods purchased for the events. A representative of Non-Profit A then submitted the fraudulent invoices to the New York State Office for the Aging (“NYSOFA”), which administered the public funds, without disclosing that these invoices were for events and goods promoting Boyland. In furtherance of the scheme, a representative of Non-Profit A also submitted Certification Forms to the NYSOFA that falsely stated, among other things, that the public funds would not be used for “partisan political activity,” and that Boyland had not and would not receive, either directly or indirectly, any financial benefit from Non-Profit A relating to the public funds.

The filing of the second superseding indictment was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and George Venizelos, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office. Ms. Lynch expressed her grateful appreciation to the New York State Comptroller’s Office for its assistance in this phase of the investigation.

If convicted on the new mail fraud conspiracy, Boyland faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and restitution.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert Capers and Lan Nguyen.

The Defendant:

WILLIAM F. BOYLAND, JR.
Age: 42

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¹ The charges contained in the indictments are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.