AG hopeful Komatireddy blasts Letitia James over unchecked fraud in shelter system

New York attorney general hopeful Saritha Komatireddy claimed the state’s homeless were shelters broken and rife with fraud — and accused incumbent Democrat Letitia James of enabling it.“Nearly 20 New Yorkers died in the winter, freezing to death on the streets because they were homeless,” Komatireddy said outside City Hall Thursday.“That is a sign of a failing system.

In one of the richest places in the world we have people dying on the streets.It’s unconscionable.“We spend $81,000 per homeless person in New York.

You could give a guy $81,000 and he wouldn’t be homeless tomorrow,” the Republican added.“Where is that money going?”Komatireddy pointed blame at her Democratic opponent James, accusing the AG of ignoring calls to investigate the shelter system despite claims of fraud.“The New York State Comptroller, the New York City Comptroller, the Department of Health, the Inspector General, have all conducted investigations,” Komatireddy said.

“They have identified concrete instances of fraud, of corruption, of kickbacks.Our homeless shelter industry is just that.“Attorney General James has ignored those calls.

She has completely failed to supervise the homeless shelters in the state, even though it is her responsibility,” she said.Komatireddy’s claims about questionable behavior among shelter system overseers were not unfounded — in 2024, the New York Department of Investigation flagged the entire shelter system’s $4 billion budget as being ripe for fraud and corruption exploitation.That came just three years after Victor Rivera — former CEO of the city’s largest shelter operator –pleaded guilty to using his position to line his pockets in a bribery and kickback scheme.Questions also been raised about how the lucrative contracts to run homeless shelters are handed out.In 2023, then-Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) flagged $1.7 billion in contracts being awarded to a firm where the former Homeless Service Administra...