By Brendan J. Lyons | Times Union, Albany
Albany, N.Y. — The board of directors for the New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association met behind closed doors last week and voted to part ways with the union’s longtime political director, Gordon Warnock, amid an ongoing investigation of the organization’s finances and business dealings, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The ouster of Warnock, a retired trooper who had previously served as a union delegate for State Police Troop F and later as the PBA’s second vice president, is part of a months-long leadership shakeup in the PBA that is occurring as the organization is under investigation by the State Police, FBI and U.S. attorney’s office in Albany.
“After a series of discussions, Mr. Warnock and the PBA mutually agreed that he would step away from the PBA while this investigation is pending,” said Daniel Strollo, the union’s general counsel. “He respects the process and the optics for the PBA. Mr. Warnock is still continuing in his role at the Signal 30 Fund, which is a separate corporation from the PBA.”
The departure of Warnock comes less than a month after the Times Union reported that the ongoing investigation includes examining hundreds of thousands of dollars that has been paid through the years to individuals or companies with connections to the union or to its related charity organization, the Signal 30 Benefit Fund.
Many of the transactions were for legal work, lobbying or “networking.” A lobbying firm operated by Warnock has done extensive work for the union and also had subcontracted some of its national work to a limited liability company formed by Thomas H. Mungeer, the PBA’s former president. Mungeer was elected president of the PBA in 2009 and remained in that position until October, when he stepped down as the union underwent a leadership mutiny amid internal questions raised about its finances.
The Times Union reported that significant payments from the…
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