CITYWIDE

QUINN TO PROBE HOSPITAL CLOSURES

The City Council speaker, Christine Quinn, plans to appoint a task force to examine hospital closures in the city, her office said yesterday. A council member of Queens, Helen Sears, will head the panel, which comes on the heels of a statewide commission on hospital closures appointed last year by Governor Pataki. The state commission is using a rating system to determine which hospitals should be closed or consolidated. It plans to make recommendations by December. An aide to Ms. Quinn said details about the council task force had yet to be worked out, but that it would focus on public and private facilities in the city, and would operate independently of the state panel.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

MANHATTAN

IMOHIOSEN DROPS OUT OF ASSEMBLY RACE, ENDORSES ROSENTHAL

A top contender for a vacant state Assembly seat on the Upper West Side got a major boost yesterday when one of her chief rivals dropped out of the race and endorsed her candidacy. Charles Imohiosen said that “in the interests of party unity,” he would back a former longtime aide to Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Linda Rosenthal. Mr. Imohiosen is the president of the Ansonia Independent Democrats, and his endorsement throws the backing of the large political club to Ms. Rosenthal. She also is said to have the quiet support of Mr. Nadler and the Manhattan borough president, Scott Stringer, both of whom wield great influence in the 67th Assembly District. Mr. Stringer’s ascension to the borough presidency on January 1 opened up his seat in the Assembly. Six candidates are still running to succeed him, and the Democratic county committee will select a nominee at a meeting Sunday.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

ACCOUNTANTS INDICTED FOR TAX FRAUD

Two accountants who failed to pay their own taxes and assisted hundreds of their clients in filing false income taxes have been indicted, the Manhattan district attorney announced yesterday. Jeffrey Rosner and David Cohen, who operated Rosner & Cohen, Empire 4912, Incorporated, and EXTC Incorporated, with offices in the Empire State building, were charged in a 21-count indictment that includes grand larceny in the second degree and multiple counts of various fraud and tax crimes. The indictment is the result of a two-year investigation that was launched after an unrelated inquiry into one of their clients uncovered questionable tax deductions. During the course of this investigation, it was revealed that between 1999 and 2003, Mr. Rosner and Mr. Cohen failed reported false individual incomes, and did not report income generated from property they each owned, the district attorney said. Mr. Cohen also did not pay any city business taxes during that time. Further, the district attorney’s office reported, Mr. Cohen and Mr. Rosner helped at least 600 tax clients file false tax returns, by inflating expenses, misrepresenting married taxpayers, and changing clients’ corporate names every few years to avoid detection. Two of the clients have already pleaded guilty to participating in the scheme, the district attorney said. The district attorney said it expects at least $7.5 million in city and state taxes will be recovered as a result of this case. If convicted, the defendants face up to 15 years in state prison for the grand larceny charges.

– Special to the Sun

CHURCH SUES INSURANCE CO. OVER THEFTS BLAMED ON PRIEST

A Roman Catholic church in Manhattan has sued the Travelers Casualty and Surety Company charging breach of contract, claiming the insurance carrier has improperly refused to pay $1.22 million stolen by a priest. The Church of St. John the Martyr, on East 71st Street, says in court papers the losses were due to thefts by Monsignor John Woolsey. After the losses were discovered, Rev. Woolsey was forced to resign as pastor and a Manhattan grand jury indicted him. Prosecutors charged that Rev. Woolsey, 67, funneled at least $820,800 from the church into his personal bank accounts, including $47,000 given to the church by parishioners. Prosecutors said he used the stolen money for country club expenses, designer watches, fancy clothes, and trips to Vermont, Florid, a and Spain. They said he used a church checking account to pay nearly $16,000 in personal credit card charges. The church lawsuit says it bought a Travelers Crime Plus policy that was in effect from December 15, 2002, to March 1, 2005, and protected the church against employee theft.

– Associated Press

TRISTATE

FREEHOLD SCHOOL DISTRICT USING EYE-SCANNING TECHNOLOGY

The school district in this Monmouth County borough has become the second in the Garden State to start using iris recognition technology to screen visitors, according to computer maker Hewlett-Packard Company. Freehold launched the system Monday in its three schools, one of which includes the district’s offices. The system is being employed as part of a study funded by a $369,000 grant from the U.S. Justice Department’s National Institute of Justice. Plumsted Township in Ocean County started using the eye-scanning technology in 2003 under a similar federal grant. Iris recognition systems use a video camera to record the colored ring around the eye’s pupil. Markings in the iris are unique to each person. Deployment of the technology in Freehold was the result of a collaboration between Palo-Alto, Calif.-based HP; Renton, Wash.-based Newton Security Incorporated; and two New Jersey companies – Eyemetric Identity Systems and LG Electronics USA.

– Associated Press

IN THE COURTS

LAWYER FOR VICTIMS OF APARTHEID SEEKS TO HAVE CASE REINSTATED

A lawyer for victims of apartheid in South Africa tried to convince three federal appeals court judges yesterday that American corporations can be held accountable even if the new South African government and the American government disagree. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan did not immediately rule. It said it believed it was bound by a U.S. Supreme Court declaration that called for a consideration of American foreign policy interests in such cases. Plaintiffs’ lawyer Paul Hoffman conceded that lawsuits brought against American corporations including International Business Machines Corporation, car makers, oil companies, and banking institutions were written too broadly and needed to be more specific. But he said the litigation brought on behalf of millions of class members who suffered during a 40-year period in South Africa should not have been tossed out as they were in 2004 by U.S. District Court Judge John Sprizzo.

– Associated Press