Show Me The Money: City Owed $28 Million

According to an audit by city Comptroller William Thompson, our fair metropolis is [owed more than $28 million] in fines due to the Department of Consumer Affairs’ failure to collect over the past six years.

Thompson’s office studied the $68.5 million in fines imposed by the DCA between Jan. 1, 2000, and July 29, 2006 and found that about $18.6 million is still owed by unlicensed businesses, and another $3 million by store owners who failed to enforce the tobacco law.

“The audit suggested that DCA should have written off fines owed by illegal or now-defunct businesses, which both parties agreed were uncollectible,” a [DCA statement] read. “DCA chose instead to aim higher by holding those cases open, allowing us every opportunity to pursue them.”

Companies that have been implicated include the Hyatt, National Tennis Center and the Mets and Cyclones; but Telebeam Telecommunications wins the [debtor prize], coming in at $5 million in fines for under reported profits.