Post by Logan on Jan 29, 2016 1:49:08 GMT -6
Feds accuse Renee Tartaglione of using psych clinic as slush fund
From the outside, the unremarkable building at 2637 N. Fifth St. - Juniata Community Mental Health Clinic's headquarters - looks no different from dozens of other drab structures that line the roads in the city's poverty-stricken Fairhill neighborhood.
But, federal authorities say, the building lies at the heart of a fraud worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and one that could leave yet another blemish on the reputation of a Philadelphia political dynasty.
On Wednesday, prosecutors accused Renee Tartaglione - the building's owner and daughter of former city elections chief Margaret "Marge" Tartaglione, sister of State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione (D., Phila.), and the clinic's former board president - with treating the nonprofit like her own personal slush fund.
In a 53-count indictment, prosecutors allege that she siphoned off its government funding to line her own pockets at the expense of low-income patients and bought up buildings the nonprofit used - including the Fairhill headquarters - to charge it exorbitant rents.
Read more: www.philly.com/philly/news/20160128_Feds_accuse_Renee_Tartaglione_of_using_psych_clinic_as_slush_fund.html
From the outside, the unremarkable building at 2637 N. Fifth St. - Juniata Community Mental Health Clinic's headquarters - looks no different from dozens of other drab structures that line the roads in the city's poverty-stricken Fairhill neighborhood.
But, federal authorities say, the building lies at the heart of a fraud worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and one that could leave yet another blemish on the reputation of a Philadelphia political dynasty.
On Wednesday, prosecutors accused Renee Tartaglione - the building's owner and daughter of former city elections chief Margaret "Marge" Tartaglione, sister of State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione (D., Phila.), and the clinic's former board president - with treating the nonprofit like her own personal slush fund.
In a 53-count indictment, prosecutors allege that she siphoned off its government funding to line her own pockets at the expense of low-income patients and bought up buildings the nonprofit used - including the Fairhill headquarters - to charge it exorbitant rents.
Read more: www.philly.com/philly/news/20160128_Feds_accuse_Renee_Tartaglione_of_using_psych_clinic_as_slush_fund.html