New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced that the former superintendent of schools and a former security system specialist of the Greenburgh-Graham Union Free School District were arrested on corruption charges for allegedly stealing school district funds earmarked for students and spending them on personal and luxury expenses between 2018 and 2022.
“Oliver Levy and Surendra Kumar were entrusted with money meant to enrich the lives of students with disabilities; instead, they allegedly enriched their own lives by spending the money on lavish gifts for themselves,” DiNapoli said. “Thanks to my partnership with District Attorney Rocah they will now be held accountable for their actions.”
“This alleged act of public corruption by those responsible for the care of students in need betrayed the trust of the entire school district community,” DA Rocah said. “We applaud the Office of the New York State Comptroller for their exhaustive investigation and bringing this case to our Office.”
The defendants, Oliver Levy, 55, of Stony Point in Rockland County, and Surendra Kumar, 47, of Yonkers, were arrested today by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office and arraigned on felony charges of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree as a Crime of Public Corruption and Corrupting the Government in the Third Degree in the Town of Greenburgh Justice Court before Judge Erin McGoey. Their next court date is June 26 in Hastings-on-Hudson Village Court.
As alleged in the felony complaint, Levy and Kumar aided, abetted and acted in concert with each other in a scheme where Levy approved Kumar's purchase of 168 gift cards between July 18 and May 2022. The defendants allegedly used more than $12,000 of the gift card funds for personal expenses, including jewelry, luxury handbags, private school fees for relatives, and veterinary services.
The investigation was conducted by the Office of the New York State Comptroller and the Economic Crimes Unit and Public Integrity Unit of DA’s Office Criminal Investigators Squad.
The case is being prosecuted by Public Integrity and Law Enforcement Integrity Bureau Assistant District Attorney Sheila Horgan of the Trials and Investigations Division.
The charges against the defendants are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Since taking office in 2007, DiNapoli has committed to fighting public corruption and encourages the public to help fight fraud and abuse. New Yorkers can report allegations of fraud involving taxpayer money by calling the toll-free Fraud Hotline at 1-888-672-4555, by filing a complaint online at https://www.osc.ny.gov/investigations, or by mailing a complaint to: Office of the State Comptroller, Division of Investigations, 8th Floor, 110 State St., Albany, NY 12236.