COPY:
http://www.speakupwny.com/forums/sho...ghlight=lagona
September 25th, 2006, #1
Housing scams: Palano pays $1.5 M + 1yr jail, BMHA's Lagona goes free
There has long been a powerful appearance that scamming poverty housing in Bflo is (politically-approved) 'good sport'.
That appearance was borne out again today when Robert Palano was sentenced in Judge Penny Wolfgang's court for walking-out about 2 years ago on about 100 inner-city Bflo mortgages to "retire" in Florida.
Repeatedly prosecuted for previous housing scams, Palano was again prosecuted this time by Jim Morrissey of the NYS AG's Office.
Last week Palano paid $1.5 million in fines & penalties; today he was sentenced to one year in prison, as reportedly he will be out in 8 months (prior time served? 'good behavior'?).
That calculates to about $15,000 per foreclosed mortgage, far less than the average foreclosed amount. Adding the costs to traumatically displaced tenants & duped rent-to own buyers, costs to already struggling neighborhoods of yet another foreclosure, plus the costs of prosecution . . .plus untold hours of (unpaid) research & advocacy in uncovering Palano scams & lobbying for prosecution . . .& Palano got off very, very cheaply.
BMHA Attorney James Lagona, retired
Incredibly, a major player in the Palano scams, but never named in the prosecution, is longtime #2 BMHA Atty, James Lagona, who served as Palano's personal attorney during the entire engineering of the latest scams.
As if to underline his role, Lagona "purchased" 43 Palano houses simultaneous to Palano's abandoning the 100 mortgages to"retire" to Florida (the whereabouts of Palano's partner, sister Janet Bryant, also never-charged, are not known to me).
See the list of the Lagona (& wife) houses below.
BMHA (or HUD , who paid his BMHA salary of about $70K), of course, has no ethical rules forbidding stealing from the poor while working for City Hall's major "welfare" agency. Lagona retired as the latest Palano scandal was breaking, so he now has a taxpayer-funded pension ($40,000 annually?) . . similar to former BMHA ED Sharon West when she "retired" to Fla with a $50,000 NYS pension, and with a new $90,000 job.
Lagona supplements his pension with rents from the poor living in his 43 Palano houses. At merely $1000 net rent per house per year, Lagona is likely getting (well over) $43,000 annually, plus the estimated $40,000 pension . . likely far exceeding $83,000 annually, all for "servicing the poor".
It will be interesting to see how the Bflo News reports this latest of a long series of inner-city Bflo housing scams.
Dick Kern (in Mpls)
COPY:
http://www.ci.buffalo.ny.us/applicat...ropsearch.aspx
1
SBL House Number Street Primary Owner
0902400003035000 604 AMHERST EAST LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0904800008023000 83 BERWYN LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0906300005032000 439 CAMBRIDGE LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0907400004037000 123 COURTLAND LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0906600007039000 253 COURTLAND LAGONA JAMES F View Information
1012700004014000 22 EAST END LAGONA JAMES F View Information
1014300004002000 61 ELLER LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0898200004029000 241 FLORIDA LAGONA JAMES F View Information
1013400003008000 2124 GENESEE LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0883500007012000 22 GERMAIN LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0883500007011000 26 GERMAIN LAGONA JAMES F & MARIA D View Information
0883500007009000 30 GERMAIN LAGONA JAMES F View Information
1012200001053000 123 GRIDER LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0906200006029000 415 GRIDER LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0798000006025000 166 HEWITT LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0798100007010000 341 HEWITT LAGONA JAMES F View Information
1014300004025000 10 HUMASON LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0904600006004000 723 KENSINGTON LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0904600006006000 731 KENSINGTON LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0902500003040000 1250 KENSINGTON LAGONA JAMES F View Information
1013300001038000 46 KERNS LAGONA JAMES F View Information
1017300003004000 68 KEYSTONE LAGONA JAMES F View Information
1012500008015000 55 LANG LAGONA JAMES F View Information
1012600008027000 117 NEWBURGH LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0906400001026000 146 OLYMPIC LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0905600002064000 275 OLYMPIC LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0904700001025000 19 PALOS LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0898300002014000 32 REGINA LAGONA JAMES F View Information
1012600006013000 44 ROGERS LAGONA JAMES F View Information
1013300005017000 26 ROSLYN LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0786500002018000 82 SARANAC LAGONA JAMES F & MARIA View Information
0785700006017000 165 SARANAC LAGONA JAMES F & MARIA D View Information
1015000002007000 82 SATTLER LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0798100006007000 431 STOCKBRIDGE LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0798200007032000 534 STOCKBRIDGE LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0798200007031000 538 STOCKBRIDGE LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0798200007023000 562 STOCKBRIDGE LAGONA JAMES F View Information
1015000001046000 37 THEODORE LAGONA JAMES F View Information
1015000001047000 39 THEODORE LAGONA JAMES F View Information
1015000001048000 41 THEODORE LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0908200004014000 94 WEBER LAGONA JAMES F View Information
0906600009003000 159 WESTON LAGONA JAMES F View Information
1014200001019000 142 ZELMER LAGONA JAMES