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Investigation alleges corruption at Village of Liberty DPW

Matt Shortall - Editor
Posted 12/13/19

MONTICELLO — Three members of the Village of Liberty Department of Public Works (DPW) resigned yesterday after being charged with multiple felonies related to defrauding the government.

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Investigation alleges corruption at Village of Liberty DPW

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MONTICELLO — Three members of the Village of Liberty Department of Public Works (DPW) resigned yesterday after being charged with multiple felonies related to defrauding the government.

On Friday, Dec. 13, the Village of Liberty Police Department and the Sullivan County District Attorney's (DA) Office announced the arrests of Peter Parks, 61, Michael Houghtaling, 52, and Daniel Curry, 37.

Village of Liberty Police Chief Scott Kinne said that a four-month-long investigation into corruption within the Village DPW, nicknamed “Operation Double-Booked,” culminated in multiple search warrants on Thursday, Dec. 12 at the DPW Office and at Parks' residence.

“The investigation revealed that all three defendants utilized their positions as public servants to benefit themselves at the expense of the taxpayers,” said Kinne.

Kinne said that Parks, in his capacity as DPW working supervisor, had organized a scheme to defraud the village by utilizing DPW employees to work for his private company - Peter Parks Construction.

Police allege that Houghtaling and Curry were being paid by the village while they were in fact working for Peter Parks Construction, and all three were filing fraudulent paperwork to conceal the theft of taxpayer dollars.

Kinne said the allegations of grand larceny are in excess of $1,000 -- the minimum charge requirement. He stressed the investigation is ongoing and he didn't want to speculate how much higher that number could reach.

“We worked on this case for four months. That doesn't mean we're only going back four months,” Kinne said.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Meagan Galligan said that the defendants are presumed innocent but were arrested yesterday and arraigned before Judge Peter Feinberg in the Town of Rockland.

Parks was charged with public corruption, corrupting the government, defrauding the government, 11 counts of offering a false instrument for filing, and grand larceny -- all felonies. Parks was also charged with two counts of official misconduct, both misdemeanors.

Both Houghtaling and Curry were charged with defrauding the government, multiple counts of offering a false instrument for filing and grand larceny.

“Today is a sad day for public servants,” said Village of Liberty Mayor Ron Stabak before thanking the Liberty Police Department and the DA's Office for their work. “This is not reflective of all the men and women who work for the Village of Liberty … We have strived to ensure that all employees are responsible for their actions. Unfortunately this investigation has revealed that three of these employees have failed to meet certain standards. I and the board find this totally unacceptable.”

Stabak noted that 50 percent of residents in the Village of Liberty are of low to moderately low income and any fraud or misuse of taxpayer funds does “severe harm” to the community.

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