Bloomberg's CityTime Consultants Were Awash In Cash

The Mayor of Accountability insisted the CityTime consultants get a contract extension this September.

Here's what they were doing with the city's money:

Investigators probing the CityTime payroll scandal seized $850,000 in cash on Wednesday from safe deposit boxes linked to consultants accused of stealing $80 million from the city.

One of the six defendants even showed up at a Long Island bank with a large duffel bag but was turned away, a source told the Daily News.

The revelations came as the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office and the city Department of Investigation froze dozens of bank accounts linked to the defendants.

Hours later, Joel Bondy, the head of the city agency responsible for CityTime was suspended without pay, and the bloated project was transferred out of his agency.

As head of the Office of Payroll Administration, Bondy oversaw countless delays and cost overruns on the $700-million-plus project, while letting two crooks run wild in the agency, prosecutors say.

Controller John Liu, who criticized OPA's performance in a scathing September audit, also froze payments to Spherion, the company tasked to monitor how the city spent its money on CityTime.

"It was important that we not pump any more money into this contract," Liu said. "When you have that kind of scenario, you've got to wonder what other things might happen."

Prosecutors charged consultants Mark Mazer, Scott Berger and four others on Wednesday with running a scheme to rip off millions in kickbacks and overcharges on CityTime, which was supposed to computerize paper payroll records for city workers.

Suspending Payroll Administration Director Joel Bondy is a start.

But more needs to be done in this case.

Why was the mayor insisting the company running the CityTime payroll project get an extension?

What was the mayor's oversight role in this mess.

It's not like people haven't known for years that the CityTime payroll project was troubled.

It's not like the project hasn't gone years past when it should have been completed and hasn't gone hundreds of millions of dollars over what was initially budgeted for the project.

And yet, the Mayor of Accountability insisted that the CityTime project go forward and these "consultants" who were arrested yesterday get contract extensions.

In order for the Mayor of Accountability to retain his title, he needs to hold himself accountable for this mess.

Since he isn't going to do that, it is up to the City Council and City Controller John Liu to do so.

The mayor himself needs to be investigated for this scandal.