Assembly Member Whose Aide Embezzled $80K Should Resign, Dems Say

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — Members of his own party have called for Assembly Member Felix Ortiz, the Democratic leader in the New York State Assembly, to resign after an aide from his office was accused of stealing $80,000 from his campaign money.

Local party leaders, residents and other advocates gathered outside Ortiz's office in Sunset Park on Friday morning, 24 hours after one of his staff members Maruf Alam was arrested for taking more than $80,000 over seven years and lying about it on disclosure forms. Ortiz has since said that Alam has been fired from the office.

The Sunset Park group — who were stopped by NYPD and Ortiz's staff members from entering his office — brought a list of questions they want answered about the assembly member's involvement in the crimes. And at least one party leader said Ortiz should resign for letting the embezzlement happen.

“In 2020 we need to rebuild the Brooklyn Democratic Party from the ground up,” said Claudia Galicia, president of the Sunset Park Latino Democrats. “Brooklyn Democrats shouldn’t stand for corruption and any elected leader that stands by as it happens needs to go. Felix Ortiz must resign.”

Others at the gathering did not go as far as asking for Ortiz' resignation, but called for him to be transparent about what happened.

Among the questions they want answered are when Ortiz, who represents Red Hook and Sunset Park, knew about Alam's alleged crimes.

Ortiz told the Brooklyn Eagle in a statement Thursday that he was "just being made aware of the charges" against Alam, but the arrest complaint shows that the FBI interviewed him for the case back in March.

“If what just happened isn’t a red flag to everyone, I don’t know what is," said Brandon West, president of New Kings Democrats. “The bar needs to be high with our electeds; we need them to be as accountable and transparent as possible, especially when an appearance of impropriety arises in their office.”

The ralliers also wanted to know what roles Alam held in Ortiz's office and what access he had to decision-making about the use of public funds beyond the campaign expenses.

The complaint only identified Alam as an employee of an "Assemblyperson," but the New York Law Journal and documents about the Assembly's expenses show he is listed as a staff member for Ortiz. The complaint says Alam held various positions for the "Assemblyperson," including chief of staff.

Ortiz said in a statement Friday that Alam's termination was effective immediately.

"These are very serious charges," he said. "I am personally appalled, hurt and disappointed that an employee would violate my trust. My constituents come first and they deserve to know that public employees are always working on their behalf."

The list of questions advocates asked also included concerns about the investigator's findings that Ortiz's office did not file several required disclosure reports over the years Alam was handling the funds. They also wondered whether any of the stolen money involved public matching funds from Ortiz's 2016 City Council race.

The investigation against Alam, who made his first appearance in court Thursday, compared the campaign bank account he handled to documents Alam filed with the New York State Board of Elections. It found that thousands of dollars in cash withdrawals were missing from the disclosure forms between 2012 and as recent as January 2019.

Throughout that time, prosecutors said, large cash deposits started showing up on Alam's personal bank accounts that were "inconsistent" with his job as a New York State employee. Many of the deposits were on the same day that the unreported cash withdrawals were made from the campaign accounts.