Former longtime Brooklyn district attorney Charles Hynes is accused of misusing hundreds of thousands of dollars seized from criminal suspects to pay for a political consultant, according to a report by the city’s Department of Investigation.
The DOI report alleges Hynes may have engaged in crimes of official misconduct and larceny.
Hynes is also accused of using his office computer to send hundreds of campaign-related emails in the recent bitter campaign he lost to current Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson.
The report also alleges that criminal court Judge Barry Kamins may have violated judicial ethics by actively advising Hynes in his campaign, including exchanging more than 300 emails with Hynes during the recent campaign.
The report detailing Hynes' alleged misuse of asset forfeiture funds has been referred to the state attorney general’s office for possible criminal investigation, sources familiar with the case tell NBC 4 New York.
Consultant Mortimer Matz billed $2,682 per week to the Kings County District Attorney’s office, the report said. Matz’s firm was paid more than $1.1 million out of state asset forfeiture funds from 2003 through 2013, the DOI report alleges.
Hynes declined comment except to say, "I will respond in the proper form." A call to his one-time campaign manager was not returned.
