Just released court papers provide more detail about the late Assemblymember Bill Nojay and allegations that he misdirected money from a client’s escrow account. The Rochester-area Nojay died by suicide in September, shortly before his primary election.
The papers filed in federal court in Rochester, which have just been unsealed, quote an FBI agent who says that in late 2015, his agency began an investigation after it received information regarding allegations of public corruption.
The FBI says it noticed suspicious campaign finance activity involving Nojay and others. Nojay, who was also an attorney, was managing an escrow account for a local architect.
The federal complaint alleges that Nojay used around $800,000 of the money in escrow for his own personal benefit, including transferring money to his campaign for the Assembly, as well as to a car dealer, to his children and to pay property taxes on his residence.
The Democrat & Chronicle had filed a motion seeking the public release of the federal complaint after Nojay’s suicide and the newspaper says that Judge David Larimer agreed.
