THE BRONX — Mark Escoffery-Bey may not have won his 2013 campaign for Bronx Borough President, but hopefully his staffers at least got some good stir-fry during the race.
The former Bronx Borough President candidate has been hit with almost $50,000 in fines from the New York City Campaign Finance Board for 12 violations stemming from the race, which include purchasing a wok that he could not prove was helping the campaign.
The NYCCFB also noted that he paid five people a total of $77,000 to do the same consulting activities and paid one person $1,000 per day to hand out literature, a much higher rate than the $150 per day he paid to six other people for doing comparable work.
Escoffery-Bey purchased items including two water coolers and a vacuum without proving that they were helping the campaign as well, according to the NYCCFB.
The board also fined him $10,750 for accepting contributions from corporations and $22,240 for not responding to its Draft Audit Report, which is based on the board's review of documents that the campaign submits throughout the election process.
Escoffery-Bey and his campaign committee also must pay back $165,422 of the $222,408 they received in public funding during the 2013 campaign for Bronx Borough President, as they were not able to prove that the money was spent properly.
Escoffery-Bey, who did not respond to a request for comment, lost handily to current Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. in the 2013 race.
