March 28, 2018
| Albany, NY
New York State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott today announced the resignation, restitution and guilty plea of an attorney employed by New York State who repeatedly filed false time and attendance records and stole more than $12,200 in pay to which she was not entitled.
Laura Cail, 48, of Troy, submitted her resignation from State service, and in Rensselaer City Court today provided a check for full restitution of the amount stolen. She also pleaded guilty to Disorderly Conduct.
An investigation by Inspector General Leahy Scott found that between June 2015 and October 2016, while serving as a Senior Attorney for the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), Cail repeatedly filed electronic time records indicating she was present at work on days when in fact she was either not at work or arrived well past her scheduled arrival time. Of the 39 pay periods during that time frame, Cail falsified attendance records for 36 of them. Cail received a total of $12,271 in pay for time she was not at work.
“This defendant’s treatment of her employment as a ‘come as you please’ job violated he public trust and left taxpayers woefully shortchanged,” said Inspector General Leahy Scott. “With her restitution payment and resignation, the State will be made whole again. I remain committed to using all of the resources at my disposal to pursue any government employee who steals from the public.”
Inspector General Leahy Scott thanked the New York State Police for their assistance with the arrest and the Rensselaer County District Attorney’s office for prosecuting this matter.