Ruben Wills, Associate Indicted on Corruption Charges [UPDATED]

New York City Councilman Ruben Wills was arrested and indicted this morning as part of an ongoing investigation by the state attorney general's office into political corruption in Queens.

Wills pleaded not guilty this morning at Queens Criminal Court to a dozen counts including scheming to defraud, grand larceny, and falsifying business records. Jelani Mills, a business associate of Wills', was charged with three counts of falsifying business records and one count of grand larceny. 

"The crimes that [Wills] is accused of committing while a candidate for public office and in office, constitute a stunning violation of the faith that he asked voters to place in him," said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. "The indictment details a very calculating scheme to defraud New York taxpayers while lining the Councilman’s own pockets."

The indictment is centered around NY 4 Life, a nonprofit corporation founded and run by Wills that claimed to provide services for children and families living in poverty. The summary provided by the attorney general's office claims that the "central purpose of Ny 4 Life was to enhance Wills' reputation in aid of relection and re-election." 

As a New York City Council candidate in 2009, the indictment alleges that Wills used NY 4 Life to conceal his theft of matching funds provided by the New York City Campaign Finance Board. Part of the matching funds program allows candidates to use the matching funds provided by the CFB for certain campaign expenditures.

Wills allegedly had his campaign committee pay a shell company called Micro Targeting--whose sole proprietor was Mills, supposedly Wills' relative by marriage--$11,500 for campaign literature that was never provided. Wills then submitted an invoice from Micro Targeting, as well as "literature" samples to the CFB, representing that the $11,500 was spent on qualified campaign expenses. 

Shortly after the $11,500 check was deposited, the attorney general's office alleges that Mills subsequently wrote a $6,800 check to NY 4 Life, which Wills deposited into the organization's bank account. He then depleted the account balance after receiving the matching funds from the CFB in a series of cash withdrawals from ATMs and personal purchases with the NY 4 Life debit card. These purchases included shopping at department stores such as Nordstrom and Macy's, where he purchased, among other things, a Louis Vuitton handbag. 

A spokesman for the Campaign Finance Board indicated that the Micro Targeting transaction was discovered while auditing Wills' campaign filings. 

The indictment also focuses on a $33,000 state grant awarded to NY 4 Life in 2008 that allegedly went unaccounted for. The grant was earmarked for the organization by former state senator Shirley Huntley, for whom Wills served as chief of staff. To receive the grant, NY 4 Life promised to conduct four programs aimed at servicing poor children and families. One of those programs, Schneiderman said, was supposed to help combat childhood obesity. However, NY 4 Life allegedly conducted only one of the four programs, a $14,000 luncheon honoring single mothers, and used the rmainder of the grant funds for personal benefit, including the aforementioned shopping trips.

"The facts speak for themselves, I think that stealing money that is supposed to go to help poor children and families is pretty despicable and we’ll stand by for the rest of the information," Schneiderman said.

For his part, Wills told reporters today after his arraignment that he would not be resigning because of the indictment.

"This is America, people, you are presumed innocent before you're proven guilty," Wills said.  

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said at a City Hall press conference that she is taking the charges "very seriously," and will not be able to allocate Council discretionary funds to his district. She did add, however, that his district would not be penalized for Wills' actions and that she would consult with the Queens delegation on how best to provide member items for his constituents. 

Mark-Viverito also said that the Council's ethics commitee would hold a hearing on the allegations against Wills, the information for which will be forthcoming. A Council source told City & State that a prior ethics investigation into Wills that opened in 2012 under the previous Council adminsitration had been closed. 

Wills' full indictment can be read here. 

Additional reporting by Azure Gilman