Latest news with #MatthewBruderman
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nassau Dems want FBI to dig into NUMC chairman's firing and shady document theft: ‘Smells like a cover-up'
Nassau Democrats are calling on the FBI to probe what they're claiming is a 'cover up' surrounding the sudden firing of the county's top hospital official after documents tied to a federal investigation were stolen from his home. In a new letter to FBI Director Kash Patel, Nassau Democrats are urging the agency to investigate Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman's unexpected ousting of Nassau University Medical Center chair Matthew Bruderman — who was booted from his post in April just hours after someone broke into his home and stole a batch of files. 'We're laying out and raising questions that no reasonable government would ignore,' Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton told reporters Monday at a press conference in Mineola. 'We want the truth, and we want it now,' she said, calling on the FBI to uncover whether Bruderman's dismissal was politically motivated. At the time of the firing — four hours after The Post broke the news of the burglary — Blakeman declined to explain his reasoning for removing Bruderman, but is now denying that the break-in had anything to do with it. 'Matt Bruderman did an outstanding job of reducing the hospital's deficit by $120 million and the County Executive replaced him with Health Commissioner Dr. Irina Gelman,' Chris Boyle, a Blakeman spokesperson, told The Post, 'primarily because he felt that the leadership should shift from concentrating on financial issues to medical and patient care issues to which Dr. Gelman was eminently qualified.' County Legislator Seth Koslow, a former prosecutor who is challenging Blakeman in November, isn't buying his explanation — likening the county executive's actions to 'obstruction 101.' 'As a former prosecutor, something doesn't add up,' said Koslow, a Democrat. 'Whichever way you slice it, this smells like a cover-up and the public deserves an explanation.' Dems also said they submitted a Freedom of Information of Law request for the since-recovered documents stolen from Bruderman's Oyster Bay home — not knowing what they may reveal. Those documents are tied to an FBI investigation, according to Long Island pols, into allegations that state and local officials diverted more than $1 billion in federal hospital funds over decades as part of a scheme to financially cripple NUMC and pave the way for its closure. The FBI declined to confirm that investigation. Meanwhile, Nassau County police has since taken over the April burglary from Center Island PD but declined to comment since the case remains part of an ongoing investigation. Bruderman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. At the time of his firing, Bruderman told The Post he was used as a political pawn, alleging that Blakeman orchestrated a backroom deal, although he did not offer specifics. The FBI did not respond to The Post's request for comment.
New York Post
24-04-2025
- New York Post
Thieves rob Long Island hospital chairman's house — and take only documents related to bombshell FBI probe: victim
The home of Nassau University Medical Center's chairman was robbed Wednesday night — but the burglars apparently only stole documents tied to a bombshell FBI probe, The Post has learned. Chairman Matthew Bruderman confirmed his house in Oyster Bay was broken into just two weeks after news broke that he was 'cooperating' with the FBI and Department of Justice in an investigation of his claims that the hospital was robbed by state and previous county leaders of more than $1 billion since 2006. The stolen documents were later recovered by Center Island police, who confirmed that an active investigation into the burglary is underway — but refused to release further information or say whether anyone was arrested. 3 Matthew Bruderman, the chairman of NUMC, confirmed his house was broken into and 'sensitive' documents were stolen pertaining to a federal investigation into his claims of fraud by previous hospital leaders. Stefano Giovannini Bruderman wasn't home at the time of the robbery and only found out after police called to inform him they had recovered a binder with his name on it in a car driven by an unidentified couple, he said. 'I was confused because that was the binder I had on my desk when I left,' he said. Bruderman said he later found his backdoor pried wide open. The binder, he said, contained 'sensitive' materials related to the ongoing federal investigation, including documents and records tied to the financial misconduct he claims to have uncovered while reviewing hospital finances and state reimbursements. The chairman believes the timing of the break-in — and that nothing appeared to have been stolen besides the documents — raises red flags and serious concerns. The FBI declined to comment on the investigation, which was opened in early April. 3 FBI Director Kash Patel met with Long Island leaders in Nassau County before opening a probe into NUMC's claims in early April. AP Bruderman has said he has been combing through the hospital's financial records and reimbursement filings since his 2022 appointment, and he claims to have uncovered billions in state funds meant for NUMC that were funneled elsewhere. At the heart of the alleged scheme is a little-known federal program called the Disproportionate Share Hospital Fund — meant to help keep afloat struggling hospitals such as NUMC, which treat large numbers of low-income patients on Medicaid and Medicare. Under the program, the federal government agrees to give hospitals tens of millions of dollars in funding as long as their state matches the investment. But Bruderman, a longtime financial advisor with over three decades of experience, said that's not what has been happening at NUMC since at least 2006. 3 NUMC is one of only a few public benefit hospitals throughout New York State. google According to his review of internal financial records, previous hospital leadership allegedly 'borrowed' what was supposed to be the state's matching share from an offshore account tied to a Cayman Islands trust, originally set up to cover the medical center's legal bills. That money would be temporarily transferred into the hospital's general fund just long enough to fool the feds into thinking New York had paid its share — unlocking the federal portion of the funding, hge claimed. But once the federal funds cleared, the state's contribution would allegedly be moved right back offshore. That would mean those matching funds vanished into the shadows in a conspiracy that could've included top officials.
