NEW YORK (AP) — The CEO of a company hired by the city of New York to house and care for hundreds of migrants has resigned after admitting that he lied about his educational background, at a time when the company, called DocGo, faces scrutiny for its $432 million non-bid contract with the city.
Anthony Capone’s resignation Friday came hours after the Albany Times Union newspaper reported that he had lied about having a degree in artificial intelligence from Clarkson University. The institution told the media that Capone never attended his classrooms.
Capone later acknowledged that he did not have a college degree from any institute of learning.
“I accept full responsibility and will make immediate corrections to all biographies, profiles and any other official materials in which this incorrect information appears,” he said in a statement.
The company confirmed Capone’s resignation on Friday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which said the company’s president and chief operating officer, Lee Bienstock, had been named its new CEO.
The document indicated “personal reasons” for his resignation, which had immediate effect.
DocGo was already facing scrutiny after its unbid contract with the City of New York came to light, raising questions about the services the company was providing, as well as their quality. Neither the company nor city officials were willing to voluntarily reveal details of the contract.
Days ago, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander said there were “numerous issues and concerns” that led him to reject the city’s $432 million non-bid emergency contract with DocGo.
Among those concerns, Lander said, was a lack of “budgetary detail to justify” the value of the contract and a lack of evidence that the company has “the expertise to provide the services it was contracted to provide.”
The city comptroller is an independently elected official.
Lander’s decision to return the contract without approving it to the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which signed the agreement with DocGo, cannot invalidate the pact.
Mayor Eric Adams has the authority to overrule the comptroller’s decision, saying, “We’re going to move forward with this.”
The New York Times reported in August that state Attorney General Letitia James had opened an investigation into the company, which some migrants and their advocates have accused of providing inaccurate information about their ability to work and obtain health coverage, and other actions that could jeopardize your chances of obtaining asylum.
The attorney general is also questioning whether security personnel hired by DocGo mistreated or threatened them, including the possibility that the migrants were ordered not to give statements to the press.
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2023-09-17 03:50:22
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