A 128-page audit commissioned by Connecticut's Department of Economic and Community Development found that auditors could not locate documentation to account for $2.4 million in taxpayer money distributed to businesses and nonprofits through the Blue Hills Civic Association, according to the audit's findings.
Audit finds $2.4 million in taxpayer funds unaccounted for in Blue Hills Civic Association grants
A 128-page audit commissioned by Connecticut's Department of Economic and Community Development found that auditors could not locate documentation to account for $2.4 million in taxpayer money distributed to businesses and nonprofits through the Blue Hills Civic Association, according to the audit's findings.
The audit was commissioned after state officials learned that Sen. Doug McCrory, D-Hartford, had used the Blue Hills Civic Association as a passthrough to subgrant millions of dollars to other organizations, including several businesses that are the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation.
Auditors from CliftonLarsonAllen spent eight months reviewing records and attempted to trace more than $6.5 million subgranted to 31 organizations in Hartford's North End and other parts of Connecticut. They found that several recipient organizations could not document how they used tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars, despite a requirement to retain such records for at least three years.
One of the largest recipients, Sonserae Cicero, whose companies operate under different versions of the name SHEBA, received $1.2 million through the Blue Hills Civic Association. Cicero's legal counsel told auditors that SHEBA would not provide any documents or information absent a legal obligation to do so, citing publicly available information suggesting a potential ongoing federal investigation into related matters. Cicero had signed a contract granting the state and its auditors access to company records upon request.
Auditors also reviewed records from RH Realty Services, which received $225,000 over two years from Blue Hills to provide mortgage coaching to low-income households. The company's owner, Roberta Hoskie, provided bank statements that auditors said suggested portions of state funding may have been used for personal expenses, including meals, hotel stays, payments to a Jaguar-Land Rover dealership, charges at Edge Fitness, Mondovi Dental, and Pearl Vision, and multiple ATM cash withdrawals.
The Blue Hills Civic Association closed in April 2025 after $300,000 was stolen from the nonprofit. It had operated out of the Collin Bennett building on Albany Avenue in Hartford. McCrory, who had served in the legislature for two decades, lost his senate seat amid the scandal.
Connecticut's General Assembly passed a law in May setting new limits on legislative earmarks, requiring additional documentation and reporting from recipient entities and mandating that nonprofits obtain state approval before subgranting funds to other groups.
- The source does not state the total amount of the $6.5 million subgranted funds for which documentation was adequate.
- The source does not state whether McCrory has been charged with or is himself a formal target of the FBI investigation.
- The source does not state how or by whom the $300,000 was stolen from the Blue Hills Civic Association.
- The source does not state what specific legal mechanisms DECD has used or plans to use to recover unaccounted funds.
- The source does not state whether Roberta Hoskie has been charged with any offense or is under investigation.
- The source does not state the total amount of funds for which auditors were able to obtain satisfactory documentation among the 31 subrecipients reviewed.
Read the original at CT Mirror