By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – State Comptroller Alan Hevesi was in Buffalo Monday taking aim at corporate corruption.
The state's top fiscal watchdog says a new report shows that the cost of corporate scandals can be measured. According to calculations based on the Brookings Institution, New York lost nearly $3 billion during a five month period in 2002. The cost to the Buffalo Niagara region alone was $177 million.
Hevesi named Adelphia as one of the chief offenders. He says the Adelphia scandal cost the state and region as yet untold amounts in legal expenses and lost economic opportunity. Hevesi says it's time for reform.
Hevesi says he is working with a coalition of other state pension fund managers to lobby for congressional and regulatory reforms that would help prevent corporate corruption.