YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer on the Attorney General of the State of New York, Att: Charities Bureau, at the address below, within twenty (20) days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the date of service, or within (30) thirty days after the service is complete if this summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York. In case of your failure to answer, judgement[sic] will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the complaint.
The basis of the venue designated is the principal place of business of defendant Society of Saint Gennaro Naples and Suburbs, Inc., 133 Mulberry Street, New York, New York.
Dated: New York, New York
August 16, 1996
DENNIS C. VACCO
Attorney General of the State of New York Attorney for the Plaintiff 120 Broadway New York, New York 10271 (212) 416-8400
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW
YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK,
by DENNIS C. VACCO, Attorney
General of the State of New York,
Plaintiff,
-against-
SOCIETY OF SAINT GENNARO NAPLES AND
SUBURBS, INC., LOUIS ZACCHIA,
LOUIS VITALE and ALFONSO VITALE,
Defendants.
VERIFIED COMPLAINT
Index No. 4C5254/96
DENNIS C. VACCO, Attorney General of the State of New York, on behalf of the People of the State of New York, under the authority granted to him in Sections 112(a), 720 and 1101(a) of the Not-For-Profit Corporation Law ("N-PCL"), Section 175 of the Executive Law, and Article 8 of the Estates, Powers and Trust Law ("EPTL"), alleges upon information and belief:
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT
1. The Attorney General brings this action in order to dissolve the corporate existence of defendant Society of Saint Gennaro Naples and Suburbs, Inc. (the "Society"), a New York not-for-profit corporation, which, for many years, sponsored the Feast of San Gennaro (the "Feast"), a multi-day street festival held in the Little Italy section of Manhattan.
2. Although the Society is incorporated as a charitable, not-for-profit entity, it is, in actuality, organized and operated for the private benefit of insiders and their friends and associates, including persons with reported ties to organized crime. Year after year, the Society has used the Feast and Feast-related activities to amass and funnel substantial sums of money to such persons, although they provided no or minimal services to the Society and had no entitlement to those funds. That scheme involved mail and wire fraud under federal criminal statutes, and one of the defendants has been indicted with others in connection with what a federal grand jury has concluded is a criminal enterprise. Meanwhile, the Society also has repeatedly concealed the total amount of rent payments received from vendors at the Feast, engaged in other unlawful and improper activities, and, in general, has operated without a legitimate governance structure as mandated by the Not-For-Profit Corporation law.
3. Over the years of its operation, the Feast has evolved from a modest community celebration to a New York institution. In recent years, however, the future of that institution has been threatened by criminal and other illegal activities that have been exposed by law enforcement probes by federal, state, and city authorities, leading this year to the denial to the Society of the permit which it had held for almost twenty years to run the Feast. The dissolution of the Society, which has reported little other charitable activity in the years of its existence, will enable new organizers to return the Feast to its original purpose as a religious and cultural festival of which both the community and the people of New York can be proud.
ATTORNEY GENERAL'S AUTHORITY
4. Pursuant to Sections 112(a) and 1101(a) of the N-PCL, the Attorney General is authorized to commence an action seeking judicial dissolution of any New York not-for-profit corporation that has acted beyond its capacity or power or conducted or transacted its business in a persistently fraudulent or illegal manner.
5. Pursuant to Section 720 of the N-PCL, the Attorney General is authorized to commence an action against the directors and officers of a not-for-profit corporation to compel them to account for the management and disposition of corporate assets and for acquisitions, transfers, loss, or waste of corporate assets in violation of their duties.
6. Pursuant to Article 8 of the EPTL, the Attorney General is responsible for supervising the administration of charitable assets held or administered in the State of New York by any individual, group, association, corporation, or any other legal entity. Section 8-1.4 of the EPTL authorizes the Attorney General to bring legal action against any entity to which that statute applies to secure the proper administration of assets held by such entity.
7. Pursuant to Section 175 of the Executive Law, the Attorney General is authorized to bring legal action against a charitable organization that raises funds from the public in violation of the requirements of that statute.
PARTIES
8. Plaintiff DENNIS C. VACCO is the Attorney General of the State of New York and brings this proceeding as the representative of the People of the State of New York and the ultimate charitable beneficiaries of all assets held by non-profit charities. The Attorney General maintains offices at 120 Broadway, New York, New York 10271 and other locations in New York State.
9. The Society was incorporated on February 18, 1928 as a membership corporation under Article II of the New York Membership Corporation Law. In 1975 the Society amended its certificate of incorporation, changing the Society to a Type B New York charitable not-for-profit corporation under Section 201 of the N-PCL. The Society's principal place of business is in New York County.
10. Defendant LOUIS VITALE is an officer and/or director of the Society and resides and/or maintains an office at 123 Mulberry Street, New York, New York 10013.
11. Defendant ALFONSO VITALE is an officer and/or director of the Society and resides and/or maintains an office at 124 Mulberry Street, New York, New York 10013. (Alfonso and Louis Vitale are referred to collectively herein as the "Vitales").
12. Defendant LOUIS ZACCHIA ("Zacchia") is an officer and/or director of the Society and resides and/or maintains an office at 124 Thelma Avenue, Merrick, New York 11566.
FACTS
A. Background
13. The Society's certificate of incorporation, as amended, lists its purposes as:
Perpetuate the name of our patron saint, Saint Gennaro; To celebrate an annual feast in honor of Saint Gennaro; To perform charitable work, including, but not limited to, voluntary financial aid to needy individuals and families, either directly or to other organizations concerned with such endeavors in all areas of the world; To maintain a scholarship fund to assist worthy college students continue their studies; To foster, in Americans of Italian descent, the knowledge of and respect for their Italian heritage, language and culture.
14. Although it has a number of authorized purposes, including the performance of charitable work such as scholarships and aid to needy individuals and families, the Society's primary activity has been sponsorship of the annual Feast.
15. The Society is not part of any church. Only a very small portion of its reported revenues is given to religious charities.
16. The Society's real function has been to serve as a front for a group of persons without any role in the Society who nevertheless control the Feast, enabling them to reap substantial profits from the Feast for themselves and their associates.
17. For decades the Feast has been held in the Little Italy section of Manhattan over the course of about twelve days in September. It involves, among other things, booths and stands where vendors sell food and operate games. These activities purportedly raise funds from the public for the benefit of the Society through rents collected from these vendors.
18. Since 1980, the Society each year applied for and obtained a street activity permit from the New York City Street Activity Permit Office ("Permit Office") to sponsor the Feast. As a sponsor of the Feast, the Society had full responsibility for the conduct of the event. The terms and conditions of the permit included a requirement that, as a sponsor of an event larger than one block, the Society shall pay a street activity fee to the City equal to 20% of the amount collected from vendors at the event.
19. Before the 1995 Feast, a Manhattan federal grand jury charged in an indictment dated August 31, 1995 that the Feast is controlled by, among others, members and associates of the Genovese organized crime family, that defendant Zacchia was associated with the Genovese family or other organized crime families, and that Zacchia controlled the food stands at the Feast on their behalf.
20. After the publication of the grand jury's charges, the City of New York refused to grant the Society a permit to conduct the 1995 Feast until the Society agreed to certain additional conditions. One of these conditions was to cooperate with a City-appointed agent, John Sabetta, who had been appointed to monitor the Society's administration of the Feast and its financial affairs.
21. In December 1995, Sabetta issued a Report to the Mayor Concerning the Society of San Gennaro and the 1995 San Gennaro Feast which set forth his findings. The Monitor found that the Society had engaged in numerous unauthorized and improper activities, including (i) violating the City's permit for the 1995 Feast; (ii) failing to produce documents and information as required; (iii) conferring excessive profits or compensation on Society officers, associates and friends; (iv) facilitating or acquiescing in illegal gambling and economic coercion; and (v) probably under-reporting the revenue it received. The Monitor further concluded that the Society as constituted should not be permitted to sponsor any future Feast.
22. On June 10, 1996, after a two-year investigation by federal and city authorities, defendant Zacchia and certain of his associates were indicted in Manhattan federal court on fraud, conspiracy, and racketeering charges relating, in large part, to their participation in the unlawful operation of the Feast.
23. In May 1996, the Society submitted an applications to Community Boards Two and Three for a City permit to hold the Feast in September 1996. By letter dated June 19, 1996, the Permit Office denied the Society's application. The denial was based on the information contained in the June 10, 1996 indictment and the December 1995 Monitor's Report.
B. Defendants' Schemes for Concealing and Diverting Rent Collected from Vendors
24. Until the City prohibited the practice in 1995, the Society leased blocks within the Feast permit area to a number of middlemen who then turned around and rented booths or stands within the blocks to individual vendors. Those middlemen provided no meaningful service to the Society, but acted only to skim profits from the Feast. This scheme, which occurred while the Society was running a deficit, generated tens of thousands of dollars in profit per block for the individuals involved in the leasing arrangement and resulted in a significant loss of income to the Society.
25. The practice of leasing blocks to middlemen was caused or allowed by the Vitales and Zacchia. The middlemen involved in this irregular leasing arrangement included friends and associates of the Society's insiders, and those profiting from it were, among others, members and associates of the Genovese organized crime family.
26. Additionally, in furtherance of a scheme for diverting and concealing Feast-related revenue, defendants failed to record or under-reported income in the Society's documents and in Permit Office filings, including those for the 1993 and 1994 Feasts. This under-reporting omitted the funds which were deliberately diverted to the middlemen and also understated the amounts actually received by the Society.
27. At the 1994 and earlier Feasts, vendors were required to pay the Society as much as $2,500 to 5,000 more in rent and other charges than vendors were required to pay in 1995 when a Monitor was appointed. Although vendors paid more to the Society in 1994 and earlier, the revenues per vendor as reported by the Society were higher in 1995.
28. By their under-reporting of Feast-related revenues, defendants repeatedly defrauded governmental entities. For example, under 50 NYCRR 1-10(a)(3), the Society was required to pay the City a permit fee equalling twenty percent of the total fees paid by the vendors at the Feast. However, on repeated occasions, including in 1993 and 1994, the Society submitted fraudulent documents to the Permit Office that completely omitted rent payments vendors made to the middlemen and also understated both the number of vendors and the total amount of rent paid by the vendors to the Society. Based on the false representations in the Society's documents, the Permit Office assessed the Society a fee that was less than twenty percent of the total rent amount received from the vendors.
29. In addition, the defendants failed to record or under-reported income in the Society's annual reports which they were required to file with the New York State Office of Charities Registration under Section 172-b of the Executive Law.
30. In August 1995, a federal grand jury charged a vendor at the 1994 Feast and a vendor at the 1993 and 1994 Feasts with giving false testimony in a grand jury proceeding. This testimony related in part to whether the amount those vendors paid for a booth or stand was more than that reflected in the Society's documents, as well as whom they dealt with in connection with operating their booth or stand. Both vendors pleaded guilty to perjury.
C. Defendants' Participation in and Facilitation of a Criminal Enterprise
31. The Society's officers and directors allowed the Society to be exploited by a criminal enterprise. As set forth in the federal indictment dated June 10, 1996, the Feast was controlled by a criminal enterprise made up of members and associates of the Genovese organized crime family.
32. As set forth in the federal indictment dated June 10, 1996, the purpose of that criminal enterprise was to enrich the members of the enterprise through the unlawful operation of the Feast.
33. As further set forth in the June 10, 1996 federal indictment, the members of the enterprise personally agreed to participate in the conduct of the enterprise's affairs through the commission of multiple racketeering acts, including multiple racketeering acts relating to the operation of the Feast. These racketeering acts included, but were not limited to: the operation of an illegal gambling business during the 1993, 1994 and 1995 Feasts in violation of New York State Penal Laws Sections 225.00, 225.05 and 225.30 and 18 U.S.C., Sections 1955 and 2, and mail and wire fraud in connection with the scheme of receiving rent from vendors at the 1993 and 1994 Feasts in excess of the rent indicated on Society documents filed with the City of New York, in violation of 18 U.S.C., Sections 1341, 1343 and 2. Persons employed by or associated with the enterprise knowingly conducted and participated, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of the affairs of that enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, as that term is defined in 18 U.S.C., Sections 1961(1) and 1961(5), by committing these and other racketeering acts.
34. As set forth in the June 10, 1996 federal indictment, Zacchia and others connected to the Genovese crime family did unlawfully, willfully and knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with each other to commit offenses against the United States and to defraud the United States in connection with the Feast, in violation of 18 U.S.C., Sections 1341, 1343, 1503 and 1512.
35. As set forth in the June 10, 1996 federal indictment, it was part of this conspiracy that Zacchia and others connected with the Genovese crime family devised and implemented the scheme and artifice for receiving rent from Feast vendors in excess of the rent indicated on the Society's documents, and filed and caused the Society to file misleading applications and other documents with the Permit Office. It was further part of this conspiracy that Zacchia and others connected with the Genovese crime family concealed the income received from Feast vendors, failed or caused the Society to fail to keep accurate records of the Feast, and filed or caused the Society to file false and misleading Form 990s with the Internal Revenue Service for the calendar years 1993 and 1994 that did not disclose significant income derived from the Feast. In furtherance of the conspiracy, Zacchia personally collected rent from vendors at the 1993 and 1994 Feasts.
36. As set forth in the June 10, 1996 federal indictment, in 1993 and 1994, Zacchia and others connected to the Genovese organized crime family unlawfully, willfully and knowingly did intentionally devise a scheme and artifice to defraud, and for obtaining money and property by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises. Specifically, they engaged in a scheme by which they received rent from vendors at the Feast in excess of the rent indicated to the City of New York in documents filed with New York City Community Boards and with the New York City Street Activity Office, and for purposes of executing this scheme they placed in a post office and authorized depository for mail matter, items and things to be sent and delivered by the Postal Service, namely, Feast applications and other documents to various New York City Community boards and to the New York City Street Activity Permit Office, in violation of 18 U.S.C., 55 1341 and 2. These mailings included but were not limited to: permit applications sent to New York Community Boards Two and Three in March 1993 and March 1994, as well as documents submitted to the Permit Office in September 1993 and October 1994 relating to the assessment and payment of permit fees.
37. As set forth in the June 10, 1996 federal indictment, in 1993 and 1994, Zacchia and others connected to the Genovese organized crime family unlawfully, willfully and knowingly did intentionally devise a scheme and artifice to defraud, and for obtaining money and property by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises. Specifically, they engaged in a scheme by which they received rent from vendors at the Feast in excess of the rent indicated to the City of New York in documents filed with New York City Community Boards and with the New York City Street Activity Office, and for purposes of executing this scheme they transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate and foreign commerce writings, signs, signals, and pictures, namely, facsimiles promoting the Feast sent to potential vendors and patrons, for the purpose of executing such scheme, in violation of 18 U.S.C., Sections 1343 and 2.
38. For many years, the Society's officers and directors permitted illegal gambling within the Feast permit area. Prior to 1995, a parking lot at 175 Mulberry Street was used each year, during the time of the Feast, for illegal gambling. The Society facilitated this illegal activity by not renting booths to vendors on the street fronting the width of this lot.
39. The Society's officers and directors operated the Society in such a manner that, year after year, it served as a vehicle for the private interests of those who controlled the Feast, for the furtherance of their criminal activities, at the expense of the Society and its ultimate charitable beneficiaries.
D. Defendants' Other Mismanagement and Waste of Corporate Assets
40. In its administration of the Feast in 1995 and prior years, the Society entered into contracts and other arrangements which conferred irregular and excessive profits on certain suppliers and others and caused the Society to incur unreasonable expenses. These contracts and expenses included, but are not limited to, exorbitant charges for (i) lighting, (ii) cleanup, removal and disposal of refuge, and (iii) unnecessary office space. For example:
a. In 1995 and prior years, the Society's largest disbursements were to Illuminations by Arnold ("Illuminations"), supposedly for services, equipment, and electrical power relating to the decorative lighting at the Feast. Illuminations is controlled by a long-time friend of Zacchia and the Vitales. With defendants' knowledge and support, in 1995 Illuminations billed and collected $60-70,000 from other Feast participants for some of the same goods and services for which Illuminations billed the Society.
b. In 1993, 1994 and 1995, the Society contracted with two persons for the cleanup, removal and disposal of refuse from the Feast who were not properly licensed to perform all of these services. The price the Society agreed to pay was grossly excessive. For example, the 1995 agreements conferred on the suppliers profits of approximately $30,000, which was approximately 125 percent above stated costs for 11 days work.
c. For many years the Society has maintained year-round office space. The Society pays approximately $24,000 a year in rent to a landlord with reputed connections to organized crime. Yet, the Society's main activity, the sponsorship of the Feast, is a limited, seasonal event. During the 1995 Feast, the Society operated from a trailer it rented near the Feast for approximately $1,275. Under the circumstances, the Society's year-round lease of office space is excessive and not an appropriate allocation of the Society's resources.
41. The Society has also forgone significant income over the years by refusing to rent booths in certain prime locations within Feast perimeters. One area, a public parking lot at 112-114 Mulberry Street, was used in 1995 for a "Freak Show". The other area, a lot at 175 Mulberry Street, has for many years been the site of an illegal gambling operation. The Society, by deciding not to rent booths to vendors on the street in front of each lot, forfeited additional substantial income which it could have earned and allocated to fulfilling its corporate purposes.
42. The Society's officers and directors, including Zacchia and the Vitales, mismanaged the Society's affairs and wasted corporate assets on these unreasonable contracts and expenses, and lost potential income for the corporation by not renting certain locations, while allowing others to profit at the Society's expense. The defendants caused the Society to enter into these contracts and to forgo rental income while the Society was running a deficit.
E. Defendants' Improper Payments to the Society's Insiders
43. In 1992, 1993 and 1994, Zacchia and the Vitales caused the Society to pay as much as $91,000, almost 30 percent of reported revenue, in officer compensation and consulting fees. These payments were excessive compensation to insiders, paid at a time when the Society reportedly was operating at a deficit. The Society made some of these payments in 1995, before the Monitor's appointment. The Monitor subsequently found that the services provided by the Society's officers are sharply limited in time and scope and largely undocumented, and do not warrant the compensation expenditures that previously had been made.
44. Defendants also used the Society's assets to make additional payments to Alfonso Vitale, above and beyond any officer compensation, in the form of checks signed by Zacchia and Alfonso Vitale. These additional payments totaled approximately $53,000 in 1993 and $37,000 in 1994. Although Vitale reportedly later repaid the Society, these payments constitute either unlawful loans by and to an officer or director of a not-for-profit corporation or a direct misappropriation of funds by and to an officer or director.
45. In 1992, 1993 and 1994, the Society paid $20,000 to $25,000 in purported "consulting fees" to one of its reported former officers. These payments were not a legitimate business expense, and later deemed by the Society to have been "a mistake". The Society derived no benefit from these payments, and the monies were not paid back to the corporation.
F. Lack of Governance Structure
46. The defendants, as officers and directors of the Society, have failed to adhere to basic corporate governance principles. The Society has failed to hold annual meetings and failed to maintain minutes of meetings.
47. Additionally, the Society's financial records are non-existent, sparse or grossly inaccurate. The Society has failed to maintain complete books and records of account, minutes of the proceedings of its members or board, and lists or records containing the names and addresses of all members.
48. Not only does the Society lack a governance structure, but it has refused to cooperate with the City in providing information as to who is running it and how it is being operated. Under the terms of the 1995 permit issued to the Society by the Permit Office, the Society was required to give the Monitor complete access to all Society records for 1995 and for prior years, and to comply as quickly as possible with the Monitor's requests for documents and any other information and assistance necessary to aid him in fulfilling his duties.
49. In violation of the terms of its 1995 permit, the Society failed to disclose certain documents and information to the Monitor, including information on the identity of all its members, officers and directors, minutes of any of its meetings, and financial records. The Society continued to refuse to disclose certain requested documents after being subpoenaed to produce them by the Department of Investigation, and asserted it maintained no financial books, ledgers or journals.
FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION PURSUANT TO SEC. 112 (a) OF THE N-PCL
50. The Attorney General repeats and realleges paragraphs 1 through 49 as if fully recited herein.
51. Defendants have breached their duty of loyalty to the Society by failing to discharge their duties as officers and/or directors in good faith, in violation of Section 717 of the N-PCL.
SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION PURSUANT TO SEC. 112(a) OF THE N-PCL
52. The Attorney General repeats and realleges paragraphs 1 through 51 as if fully recited herein.
53. Defendants have failed to properly manage the charitable assets of the Society with the degree of diligence, care and skill which ordinarily prudent persons would exercise under similar circumstances, in violation of Section 717 of the N-PCL.
THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION PURSUANT TO SECS. 112(a) AND 1101(a)(2) OF THE N-PCL
54. The Attorney General repeats and realleges paragraphs 1 through 53 as if fully recited herein.
55. Defendants have acted in a persistently fraudulent and illegal manner in their conduct of the Society and its business, administration of the Society's assets, and operation of the Feast, in violation of Section 1101(a)(2) of the N-PCL.
56. Because of defendants' conduct, the Society has acted beyond its capacity and powers and carried on unauthorized activities, and therefore is subject to dissolution pursuant to Sections 112 and 1101(a)(2) of the N-PCL.
FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION PURSUANT TO SEC. 720 OF THE N-PCL
57. The Attorney General repeats and realleges paragraphs 1 through 56 as if fully recited herein.
58. Defendants have mismanaged and wasted corporate assets of the Society by their neglect of, failure to perform, and violation of their duties under Section 717 of the N-PCL, and they must account for their derelictions of duty pursuant to Section 720 of the N-PCL.
FIFTH CAUSE OF ACTION PURSUANT TO SEC. 720 OF THE N-PCL
59. The Attorney General repeats and realleges paragraphs 1 through 58 as if fully recited herein.
60. Defendants have neglected, failed to acquire, transferred, lost and wasted corporate assets for themselves, transferred to others, mismanaged and wasted corporate assets of the Society by their neglect of, failure to perform, and violation of their duties under Section 717 of the N-PCL, and they must account for their derelictions of duty pursuant to Section 720 of the N-PCL.
SIXTH CAUSE OF ACTION PURSUANT TO SEC. 720 OF THE N-PCL
61. The Attorney General repeats and realleges paragraphs 1 through 60 as if fully recited herein.
62. The Society's directors authorized or concurred in the improper distribution of the Society's funds and property to the Society's officers, directors and/or members, and therefore are liable under Section 719 of the N-PCL to the Society, for the ultimate beneficiaries of its activities, for the losses suffered by the Society as a result of such conduct.
SEVENTH CAUSE OF ACTION PURSUANT TO EPTL SEC. 8-1.4
63. The Attorney General repeats and realleges paragraphs 1 through 62 as if fully recited herein.
64. In violation of Article 8 of the EPTL, defendants repeatedly have failed to administer the assets of the Society with the degree of diligence, care and skill which ordinarily prudent persons would exercise under similar circumstances and in a manner consistent with its stated corporate purposes.
EIGHTH CAUSE OF ACTION PURSUANT TO SEC. 112(a) OF THE N-PCL
65. The Attorney General repeats and realleges paragraphs 1 through 64 as if fully recited herein.
66. The Society's payments in 1993 and 1994 to Alfonso Vitale in excess of his annual compensation constitute loans to an officer or director of a not-for-profit corporation in violation of N-PCL Section 716.
NINTH CAUSE OF ACTION PURSUANT TO SEC. 112(a) OF THE N-PCL
67. The Attorney General repeats and realleges paragraphs 1 through 66 as if fully recited herein.
68. Defendants have failed to maintain correct and complete books and records as required by Section 621 of the N-PCL.
TENTH CAUSE OF ACTION PURSUANT SEC. 175 OF THE EXECUTIVE LAW
69. The Attorney General repeats and realleges paragraphs 1 through 68 as if fully recited herein.
70. In violation of Section 172-d(1) of the Executive Law, defendants have repeatedly filed inaccurate annual reports with the New York State Office of Charities Registration which underreported income of the Society.
ELEVENTH CAUSE OF ACTION PURSUANT SEC. 175 OF THE EXECUTIVE LAW
71. The Attorney General repeats and realleges paragraphs 1 through 70 as if fully recited herein.
72. In violation of Section 172-d(13) of the Executive Law, defendants have failed to maintain books and records as required of charities soliciting funds from the public in New York.
WHEREFORE, the Attorney General respectfully requests an order or judgment of this Court:
A. Under Sections 112(a), 1101(a)(2) and 1109 of the N-PCL, dissolving the corporate existence of the Society;
B. Under N-PCL Sections 719 and 720, declaring defendants Zacchia and the Vitales responsible for any injury to the Society as a result of the improper distribution of the Society's cash or property to members, directors and/or officers of the Society or anyone else;
C. Under Article 8 of the EPTL and Sections 720 and 1008 of the N-PCL, compelling the directors and officers of the Society to account for the Society's funds and other assets from January 1, 1990 through the date of this Court's final order and judgment, including without limitation, an accounting of all the funds collected from Feast vendors, all funds solicited or received for or on behalf of the Society, all transfers and any use of corporate assets, and any profit or other benefit obtained by the directors and officers or their associates from their waste or mismanagement of Society assets or by their violation of their duties; and directing the individual defendants to be surcharged for any losses to the Society resulting from their misconduct;
D. Under Section 1202(a)(1) of the N-PCL, appointing a temporary receiver to administer any and all claims against the Society;
E. Directing the distribution of any remaining assets of the Society to an appropriate charitable organization properly organized under the laws of this State;
F. Under Section 1109 of the N-PCL, directing reimbursement to the State of New York for any costs and disbursements incurred in connection with this proceeding; and
G. Granting such other and further relief as this Court may deem just and proper.
Dated: New York, New York
August 16, 1996
CHARITIES BUREAU
SEAN DELANY
Assistant Attorney General in Charge
ELIZABETH M. GUGGENHEIMER
JACQUELINE M. MEGA
NANCY A. WHITE
Assistant Attorneys General of Counsel
DENNIS C. VACCO
Attorney General of the State of New York Attorney for the Plaintiff 120 Broadway New York, New York 10271
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW
YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK,
by DENNIS C. VACCO, Attorney
General of the State of New York,
Plaintiff,
-against-
SOCIETY OF SAINT GENNARO NAPLES AND
SUBURBS, INC., LOUIS ZACCHIA,
LOUIS VITALE and ALFONSO VITALE,
Defendants.
VERIFICATION
Index No. 405254/96
STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK
NANCY A. WHITE, being duly sworn, says:
1. I am an Assistant Attorney General in the Charities Bureau in the office of Dennis C. Vacco, Attorney General of the State of New York and am fully familiar with the facts and proceedings in this matter.
2. I have read the annexed Complaint and the contents thereof are true, except where stated upon information and belief, and as to those I believe them to be true.
