Former chief medical officer at SUNY Downstate charged with stealing $1.4M
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — DR. MICHAEL LUCCHESI, former chief medical officer and chair of emergency medicine at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, has been charged with grand larceny, falsifying business records and tax fraud for allegedly stealing $1.448 million using a business credit card, Brooklyn D.A. Eric Gonzalez and NYS Inspector General Lucy Lang announced Tuesday. “The scope of the alleged thefts is shocking,” Gonzalez said in a release. Lucchesi allegedly spent hundreds of thousands on travel, tuition and luxury purchases, including $176,000 on his dog, most of which went to an upscale dog resort and hotel. Lucchesi, 66, who served as acting head of the financially troubled medical institution in East Flatbush, was arraigned Tuesday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Donald Leo. He was released without bail and ordered to return to court on Sept. 25.
Lucchesi was Chief Medical Officer at SUNY Downstate and Long Island College Hospital (LICH) during then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s controversial sale of LICH to a developer. SUNY System Chief Communications Officer Lane Filler responded to the Eagle, stating, “The alleged theft of almost $2 million in state money by a former Downstate employee is deeply troubling. As soon as these allegations were brought to SUNY System’s attention, we directed Dr. Riley to fully examine all of Downstate’s systems and cooperated fully with law enforcement in their pursuit of justice on behalf of Downstate.” Read more here.
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