Former Niagara County Treasurer David S. Broderick used his position as public

administer of estates to benefit friends and family, according to an audit released this

morning by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

State auditors who reviewed 15 estates Broderick handled during a five-year period found

that he failed to safeguard the decedents' assets when he administered estates for people who

died without wills or had no one qualified to oversee their estates.

The auditors found that Broderick sold assets at prices below their value and contracted

with attorneys, real estate agents and appraisers without seeking competition.

"There was a lax operation here that left open the possibility for exploitation," DiNapoli said this morning during a news conference in Niagara Falls City Hall. "And we have to be sure that doesn't happen again."

The Buffalo News in April 2009 reported on questions raised about Broderick's handling of

estate cases in Niagara County.

DiNapoli said he turned the audit findings over to Niagara County District Attorney Michael

J. Violante to determine if any laws were broken.

DiNapoli speaking in Niagara Falls this morning

Among the examples cited by auditors:

There was no evidence that Broderick obtained professional appraisals to determine

the value of five houses he sold from estates.

There was no evidence that Broderick advertised three of the houses before they were

sold and no documentation of how he found buyers for the properties.

He sold three vehicles to a county sheriff's deputy for a total of $2,000, including

a 1970 Chevrolet Monte Carlo that may have had "substantial value" to a classic car collector. Auditors said they found local classified advertising listings asking for as much as $38,000 for the same car.

Broderick sold the contents of one house for $270 in an estate valued at more than

$450,000.

Broderick, in a written response included in the audit, said the Monte Carlo was "just a frame with a small engine that did not run," and that it was sold by the deputy sheriff for parts.

DiNapoli said proving that Broderick purposefully exploited the system is difficult because there is a lack of documentation for many of the items sold.

"Take the case of that car. There was no record, no photograph of the condition of the car. Was it a pristine classic that could have sold for that $38,000 — that Monte Carlo — that we saw a listing of?" DiNapoli said. "Or were the doors hanging off and the headlights busted and was it fair price? We can't answer that question."

That's why, DiNapoli said, there needs to be better documentation and review of the public administrator's work.

"Certainly, when you don't have adequate records and when some of the people involved in the transaction have personal relationships with the public administrator, it raises a big question," DiNapoli said.

DiNapoli also faulted Broderick for using a county-paid secretary to work on the estates.

Broderick, citing health concerns, abruptly quit his post in January after months of public

allegations that he had manipulated estates he controlled because of his public position.

The audit examined 15 estates handled by Broderick during the period between January 2004

and October 2009.

Broderick has denied wrongdoing.

"Nowhere in this report does it indicate that a single dollar was missing from an estate,"

Broderick wrote in a lengthy response to the audit. "It is the conclusion of this public

administrator that your audit is flawed in its methodology, and unfairly, critical of my

procedure, without candidly regarding that the audit found NO instance in which any loss

occurred during my administration of these many estates."

Broderick also said that DiNapoli's referral of the audit to the Niagara County District

Attorney was "unwarranted and without any basis."

In response to Broderick's criticism of the audit, DiNapoli said simply, "He's wrong."