Exclusive | AG Letitia James ‘refused’ to probe NYC homeless shelters funding her campaign: critics

Embattled New York Attorney General Letitia James failed to probe three of the Big Apple’s most scandal-scarred homeless shelter operators — while accepting more than $56,000 in campaign donations from their top executives, lobbyists and spouses over the past eight years, records show. 

Samaritan Daytop Village, Acacia Network Housing and CORE Services Group have not faced enforcement action from James’ office since she took office in 2019, critics say.

Yet over the same period, these taxpayer-bankrolled nonprofits have come under heavy scrutiny from the state Comptroller’s Office, the state Inspector General, the NYC Department of Investigation and federal authorities over alleged insider deals, lavish spending and executive payouts, inadequate oversight of taxpayer dollars and other misconduct.

In 2024, a DOI examination of 51 city-funded shelter providers — including Acacia and CORE — uncovered examples of “nepotism, lack of competitive bidding and exorbitant salaries” spread across the city’s problem-plagued, multi-billion-dollar shelter system. 

The agency also singled out the attorney general as having the power to “bring action to enjoin, void or rescind” improper insider deals at nonprofits.

“These are precisely the kinds of abuses the attorney general is supposed to investigate,” said Republican Saritha Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor looking to unseat James in Tuesday’s general election.

“Yet while other watchdog agencies have exposed serious misconduct, Letitia James has refused to hold these operators accountable.

“The fact that individuals tied to these [three] organizations have contributed thousands of dollars to her campaigns raises serious questions about whose interests she is protecting,” added Komatireddy, who has previously accused James of not holding other troubled homeless shelter providers accountable. 

Samaritan’s board members include Vito F. Pitta, who has donated $6,000 to James’ campaigns since 2018. His powerhouse lobbying firm Pitta LP dished out another $22,500, according to records.

A 2024 audit by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli found the nonprofit overbilled the city by $566,556 the previous two years. A follow-up audit earlier this year revealed the Department of Homeless Services had yet to recoup $385,109 of that amount. 

Meanwhile, Samaritan CEO Mitchell Netburn received a 25% salary increase to $465,289 in 2025 — despite the nonprofit operating at a loss for a third straight year, according to its financial filings.

And DOI found Samaritan purchased legal and insurance services from companies tied to its own board members.

The nonprofits’ facilities have been overrun with crime.

In 2019, Marcus Coles, a house manager at Samaritan’s residential treatment facility in Ellenville, N.Y., was arrested for raping a woman in his care and pleaded guilty to a felony sex offense. The nonprofit was subsequently sued by the state for allegedly failing to adequately vet Coles, who had a lengthy criminal history that included multiple burglary and illegal drug arrests. The case was later settled.

But in March, James’ office petitioned a state judge to give Samaritan the title to the same treatment center — clearing the way for new state financing — because the corporate entity that originally owned the site ceased operations.

In 2022, 3-year-old Shaquan Butler Jr. was found dead with bruises at the Pan American Hotel in Elmhurst, Queens, which Samaritan then operated as a family shelter. At the time, local pols accused Samaritan of poorly running the shelter, citing widespread drug use. The boy’s father, Shaquan Butler, was convicted of the murder and sentenced to 32 years behind bars.

Acacia Network, meanwhile, has its own ties to James’ political circle. Her longtime chief campaign strategist, Luis Miranda Jr., is among the top lobbyists for the Bronx-based nonprofit, which has a seedy history of racking up health and safety violations at properties it manages and payments to top executives.

Miranda and his wife Luz Towns-Miranda donated a combined $25,898 to James’ campaign committees since 2018.

In 2019, DOI probed Acacia following reports it steered tens of millions of dollars to a security firm founded by its president, Raul Russi — including $12 million in 2017 alone — without listing the relationships on city disclosures and tax filings.  

The agency’s 2024 report flagged Russi’s jaw-dropping $935,391 yearly salary while noting CEO Lymaris Albors raked in $836,684.

In November 2021, the city cut ties with CORE — which had collected $763 million in contracts over the de Blasio administration’s eight years — after The Post and others revealed the nonprofit’s chief executive, Jack Brown, placed pals on the payroll and established a network of for-profit subcontractors, which he used as his personal cash cow.

Brown collected more than $1 million annually from CORE and its affiliates combined.

He donated $2,350 in 2018 to James.

In December 2021, federal agents raided CORE’s Brooklyn headquarters, and the city sued CORE to repay $2.3 million in “excessive executive salaries.”

James’ campaign spokesperson Grace Smoker refused to address the hands-off approach, and instead brought up President Trump. “Ms. Komatireddy has raked in donations from Trump’s lieutenants and right-wing hacks, including [Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate] Vivek Ramaswamy,” she said.