Campaign Finance Board Levies Fines
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Sheldon Leffler, the former Queens lawmaker on probation for campaign fraud in the 2001 election, was fined $91,850 yesterday by the city Campaign Finance Board and ordered to return the $296,084 he received in public matching funds.
Leffler, a Harvard-educated lawyer who spent 25 years in the City Council, was convicted last year of illegally claiming $10,000 in campaign contributions for his unsuccessful run for Queens borough president were eligible for a $4-to-$1 match.
The board ordered Leffler to return all of the public money he received in that election, but agreed to delay collection pending the outcome of an appeal into his conviction.
His lawyer, Spiros Tsimbinos, argued the board should forgo imposing the penalties until the appellate process is exhausted, but a board spokeswoman, Molly Watkins, said the board had the authority to find Leffler in breach of certification regulations.
“I thought it would have been be easier to adjourn the matter until the Appellate Division makes its decision,” Mr. Tsimbinos said in a telephone interview. “What’s important is that we have the option to go back to them after the appeal.”
Leffler, who has been disbarred, maintains his innocence.
The board also levied fines against six other candidates for various violations of the Campaign Finance Act, including accepting prohibited contributions, improperly using campaign funds to influence a ballot proposal, and filing false information.
City Council Member Bill Perkins, was ordered to return $19,642 he allegedly spent illegally on campaign literature encouraging voters to oppose a charter revision proposal for non-partisan elections and roughly $4,700 he wrongfully spent on holiday greeting cards to 3,300 supporters.
He was fined $1,500 for the ballot proposal expenditures and $1,000 for the greeting cards. Mr. Perkins, who was told of the penalties by a reporter, said he would look into appealing the decision.
Other fines levied to council members included: $1,125 to Andrew Lanza, of Staten Island, for a late filing and accepting contributions from an unregistered political action committee, and $825 to Vincent Gentile, of Brooklyn, for responding late to an audit request.
