Imprisoned former state Sen. Joseph Coniglio who vacationed in Italy with Bergenc County Prosecutor John Molinelli when under indictmentwasn’t the only prominent public official paid as a private consultant by Hackensack University Medical Center.
Former Chief of Detectives Michael Mordaga also had a side job at the medical center for nearly all of his tenure as one of Bergen County’s highest-ranking police officials.
A state senator — and several ethics experts — said Mordaga’s work for the county’s largest employer was an obvious conflict of interest.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate for the chief of detectives in the county prosecutor’s office to have any outside employment and certainly not right in one of the communities in which he could be called upon, on any number of levels, to be investigating,” said state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, adding: “These are very sensitive jobs and it’s of great concern that the people who are in them have no other obligations other than to the people of New Jersey.”
The public had little way of knowing that Mordaga, who was making more than $177,000 a year when he retired as chief in mid-2007, had other obligations.
Mordaga didn’t list income from the hospital on financial disclosure forms he was required to file under state law. He did, however, list a company called Universal Consultants as a source of income for his wife, who is also identified in state records as the firm’s general partner. In prior interviews, Mordaga has referred to Universal as his own consulting business. Mordaga’s attorney, Martin Garbus, said his client had properly completed the disclosure form.
His boss at the time, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli, said he knew Mordaga had a security consulting business, but never asked him to reveal his clients and did not know he worked for HUMC.
Hospital officials acknowledged the five-year arrangement with Mordaga after repeated requests for information. They declined to reveal Mordaga’s pay and described his responsibilities as consulting on unspecified “security matters” and “community outreach” for some programs. Hospital officials would not say if they paid Mordaga under his own name, Universal Consultants or some other entity.
Last month, the hospital board adopted sweeping reforms designed to eliminate conflicts of interest by board members and to strengthen the vetting and supervision of consultants — as recommended by lawyers hired during Coniglio’s trial on charges stemming from his work for HUMC. Prosecutors had described the medical center as a “political machine” whose reach extended into the State House.
HUMC had paid Coniglio more than $100,000 in consulting fees for what prosecutors described as a low-show job that lasted just less than two years. But this year a jury found that the fees were actually paid in exchange for steering state grants to the medical center. He is serving a 2½-year prison sentence.
After Coniglio’s sentencing in September, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said its HUMC investigation was continuing. Contacted last week, Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney, declined to comment.
Mordaga, who only commented through his attorney, has not been accused of any impropriety.
A spokesman for the state attorney general, who oversees county prosecutors’ offices, had no comment on the arrangement, saying that decisions on outside employment are left to each prosecutor.
Asked recently about Mordaga’s work at the hospital, Molinelli said: “I am sure he never allowed it to conflict with his duties here.”
Duties included outreach
The hospital’s relationship with Mordaga, who had a high-profile, 22-year career in the Hackensack Police Department, began in December 2001, six months before he became Bergen’s chief of detectives. It ended in February 2007, four months before he retired from the county job.
In a statement, HUMC said Mordaga “was hired as a consultant on security matters and to provide outreach to the law enforcement community including educating police and fire personnel about HUMC’s prostate cancer testing program, its Center for Trauma Recovery, and work with the Police Athletic League.” (The Police Athletic League of Bergen County is a non-profit that was founded by Mordaga and employed his wife).
“I can tell you, I was not involved in his hiring,” current board Chairman J. Fletcher Creamer said.
“I have nothing to say,” board member Sam Toscano, the chairman when Mordaga was hired, said.
Mordaga also worked as the $100,000-a-year head of security for Toscano’s pharmaceutical supply company when he was a Hackensack police officer, according to court records.
No comments:
Post a Comment