Federal Probe:
Queens Non-Profit Shared Staff With Senator, Pastor, Governor

By DOMENICK RAFTER

Five people connected to the non-profit organization under investigation by federal officials have connections to State Senate President Pro Tempore Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) and/or Gov. David Paterson. According to public records, three of the five are or were on the Senate payroll.

New Direction Local Development Corp., based in Springfield Gardens, is currently under investigation by federal prosecutors, as is a charity related to the corporation set up to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. Federal prosecutors also subpoenaed Sen. Smith’s records earlier this month that show money he directed to New Direction.

Among the four people with connections to both New Direction and Smith is Mortimer Lawrence, who was Smith’s chief of staff, senior staff counsel and later special counsel until December 2009, when he was let go after Smith lost his Majority Leader position.

Lawrence is listed on New Direction’s tax returns as head of the corporation as of 2005. The New Direction Web site listed him as chairman of the Board of Directors. In 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003, Lawrence donated $1,000 to the campaign of Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica), who allocated substantial funding for the group. Lawrence did not respond for a comment.

Another name listed is Joan Flowers, who is named as an attorney on the New Direction Web site. The address to her law office on the Web site is the same Springfield Gardens address as New Direction. Flowers is currently listed as working on Smith’s staff, as counsel, replacing Lawrence. She also worked for Gov. Paterson from 2003 until 2006 while he was a State Senator and Minority Leader. Last week, federal officials attempted to issue Flowers with a subpoena, which she did not receive because she was in Albany.

Flowers responded to a request for comment saying that she did not remember being a member of New Direction’s Board of Directors, despite being listed as a member on the organization’s Web site, and that her involvement with New Direction was limited to being an attorney for the organization early on. She said she did not know why her address on the Web site is the same address as New Direction.

Fred Simmons, listed as Senator Smith’s Director of Advance, had also been listed as a board member of New Yorkers Organization for Hurricane Families, the charity founded under the auspices of New Direction that raised more than $30,000 for victims of Hurricane Katrina, but according to records only paid out $1,392 to victims. Simmons could not be reached for a comment. Simmons also worked for a very short time in the office of then-Sen. Paterson when he was Minority Leader of the State Senate in 2003.

The fourth person, Claude Stuart, worked for Smith as a special assistant in 2003 and 2005. Stuart was fired from his job as an assistant district attorney in Queens for lying to a judge during a murder trial, which led to Stuart’s law license being suspended for three years in 2005. Stuart is listed on New Direction’s 2006, 2007, and 2008 tax returns as head of the organization.

The Rev. Edwin Reed, listed as treasurer of New Direction on the organization’s Web site was also chief financial officer of Great Allen Cathedral of New York from 1995 until 2007. Great Allen is the Jamaica church founded and headed by the Rev. Floyd Flake, former congressman and political mentor of Smith and Meeks. In 2007, Reed became CEO of the Greater Allen AME Community Development Association, an arm of Flake’s church focused on community development. Today, Reed heads up GGT Development, LLC, an organization focused on economic development and “kingdom building,” according to the organization “Black Church Means Business.”

Records show that Smith directed more than $50,000 in member items to New Direction during the last decade, though he had asked for much more. Smith has denied any wrongdoing and Senate Democratic spokesman Austin Shafran said Smith was not involved in how New Direction spent the money it received.

It is not illegal for a state legislator to direct grant money to a charity that employs friends, family or staff members of the legislator, but under an agreement struck in 2007 with the attorney general’s office, the recipient of the money must now disclose connections to the state legislator or risk perjury. Records show the money was directed to New Direction between 2001 and 2006, before that agreement was struck.

Reach Reporter Domenick Rafter at drafter@queenstribune.com or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 125.