City Lawmaker Faces Fraud Penalty
By Staff Reporter of the Sun | August 9, 2007
A City Council member of Washington Heights, Miguel Martinez, could be ordered today to repay $128,786 in public funding he received for his 2001 council campaign.
The city's Campaign Finance Board is scheduled to meet today with Mr. Martinez to determine whether his campaign submitted fraudulent documents to the board. If so, he would be expected to return the money and face additional fines.
In 2005, Mr. Martinez successfully sought a judicial order to block the board from fining him $85,780 for fraud charges surrounding his 2001 campaign. In 2006, the board fined Mr. Martinez $10,000 for misrepresenting the source of contributions to his 2003 campaign.
