Saving the Puerto Rican Day Parade?: The NYS Attorney General's Investigation

Note: According to the news report below, the NYS Attorney General is about to issue a report on its probe into the finances of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade that will result in a major shake-up of its operations and may even lead to criminal charges against some of its leaders and employees. As we documented back in 1994, the problems facing the Parade are longstanding ones, making the Attorney General's actions in response to complaints from the Puerto Rican community a significant reform of this much-criticized institution. With a newly-constituted Board of Directors and the continued monitoring by the Attorney General's office, the hope is that the Parade can return to its original mission of representing the best of the culture and people of the Puerto Rican community.

---Angelo Falc�n  

Schneiderman Set to Oust 

Puerto Rican Day Parade Board

By Gerson Borrero

New York Post (February 2, 2014)

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is poised to clean house at the embattled Bronx nonprofit behind the Puerto Rican Day �Parade, The Post has learned.

The expected ouster of some or all of the six-member board at National Puerto Rican Day Parade Inc. would come after a seven-month probe of the event by the AG's Charities Bureau.

The group has been under scrutiny for a sponsor deal and allegations of conflicts of interest.

The board had licensed the use of the parade's logo on commemorative cans of Coors Light, with proceeds to go to a scholarship fund. But the deal ignited a furor, with some saying the pairing of beer with the city's largest parade sent the wrong message, especially since last year's theme was "celebrating your health."

Investigators targeted the deal in a strongly worded letter addressed to group President Madelyn Lugo last May, sources said.

The group also came under fire when board member Luis Rivera, who is married to Lugo, worked as a paid consultant for GALOS Corp., which acts as a for-profit marketing firm for the parade. The nonprofit paid GALOS $103,108, according to 2012 tax filings.

The parade is funded solely by sponsorships and donations. In 2012 it had revenues of $461,363 but spent $620,546.

Carlos Velasquez, its business and marketing agent, may also lose his job, sources told The Post. He heads negotiations with sponsors. He also owns a marketing firm that handles the Dominican and Hispanic day parades.

"Carlos has already begun to steer business away from the parade and into other events he peddles," said a source close to Velasquez.

Board members, Velasquez and the AG refused to comment.