{"id":387080,"date":"2026-10-29T22:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T22:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/387080\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T22:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T22:50:09","slug":"gop-ag-hopeful-saritha-komatireddy-blasts-letitia-james-for-ignoring-fraud-in-ny-homeless-shelters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/387080\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP AG hopeful Saritha Komatireddy blasts Letitia James for ignoring fraud in NY homeless shelters"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York attorney general hopeful Saritha Komatireddy claimed the state\u2019s homeless were shelters broken and rife with fraud \u2014 and accused incumbent Democrat Letitia James of enabling it.<\/p>\n

\u201cNearly 20 New Yorkers died in the winter, freezing to death on the streets because they were homeless,\u201d Komatireddy said outside City Hall Thursday. \u201cThat is a sign of a failing system. In one of the richest places in the world we have people dying on the streets. It\u2019s unconscionable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spend $81,000 per homeless person in New York. You could give a guy $81,000 and he wouldn\u2019t be homeless tomorrow,\u201d the Republican added. \u201cWhere is that money going?\u201d<\/p>\n

NYS Attorney General candidate Saritha Komatireddy said she\u2019d root corruption out of the shelter system. William Farrington for The NY Post<\/p>\n

Komatireddy pointed blame at her Democratic opponent James, accusing the AG of ignoring calls to investigate the shelter system despite claims of fraud.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe New York State Comptroller, the New York City Comptroller, the Department of Health, the Inspector General, have all conducted investigations,\u201d Komatireddy said. \u201cThey have identified concrete instances of fraud, of corruption, of kickbacks. Our homeless shelter industry is just that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAttorney General James has ignored those calls. She has completely failed to supervise the homeless shelters in the state, even though it is her responsibility,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Komatireddy\u2019s claims about questionable behavior among shelter system overseers were not unfounded \u2014 in 2024, the New York Department of Investigation flagged the entire shelter<\/a> system\u2019s $4 billion budget as being ripe for fraud and corruption exploitation.<\/p>\n

That came just three years after Victor Rivera \u2014 former CEO of the city\u2019s largest shelter operator \u2013pleaded guilty to using his position to line his pockets<\/a> in a bribery and kickback scheme.<\/p>\n

Questions also been raised about how the lucrative contracts to run homeless shelters are handed out. In 2023, then-Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) flagged $1.7 billion in contracts being awarded to a firm where<\/a> the former Homeless Service Administrator head\u2019s sister worked.<\/p>\n

New York City Police Department officers speak to people cleaning a homeless encampment in New York. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

Komatireddy said New Yorkers had seen just the tip of the iceberg of shelter system corruption \u2014 and claimed AG James was letting it slide.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery homeless shelter files annual financial reports with the attorney general\u2019s office, and every homeless shelter must get the attorney general\u2019s review and approval for major related transactions or dispositions of assets,\u201d she said. \u201cBut Attorney General James doesn\u2019t use that authority. She gives them a blank check.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an industry where people make millions of dollars for themselves and leave the homeless abandoned on the streets,\u201d Komatireddy said. \u201cThe people who are paying the price [are] the innocent, homeless New Yorkers of New York, who are dying on the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Komatireddy vowed she would crack down on homeless shelters on day one if elected, promising to undertake a system-wide audit to root out corruption.<\/p>\n

NYS Attorney General candidate Saritha Komatireddy speaks outside City Hall on Oct. 29, 2026, calling for help for homeless people. William Farrington for The NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cI will audit and investigate every homeless shelter in New York, starting on day one as attorney general, will clean up this industry, and we\u2019ll actually make sure we help the homeless in New York,\u201d Komatireddy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNearly 20 people died last January, freezing to death in the cold in New York,\u201d she added. \u201cIf nothing changes, if our attorney general doesn\u2019t change, if we keep everything the same, 20 more will die next January.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for James responded to the comments by attempting to tie the Republican to President Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cMs. Komatireddy should first ask her biggest endorser, Donald Trump, why he attempted to cut billions of dollars of funding for shelters, which would have left thousands of New Yorkers on the streets,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cThanks to the work of Attorney General James, that funding was protected, because all New Yorkers should live with dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n

James is leading Komatireddy 54%-39% in the deeply blue Empire State, according to the latest Siena College poll. No Republican has won a statewide race since 2002.<\/p>\n

The state AG serves a four-year term at an annual salary of $220,000.<\/p>\n

Election Day is Nov. 3 with early voting already underway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York attorney general hopeful Saritha Komatireddy claimed the state\u2019s homeless were shelters broken and rife with fraud…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387081,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[393,7022,9468,398,57,46937,9,24,55,54,56,58],"class_list":["post-387080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-attorney-general","tag-corruption","tag-homeless-shelters","tag-letitia-james","tag-metro","tag-midterm-elections-2026","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}