Former CB6 Manager Forged Papers To Give Himself Raises, DA Says

PARK SLOPE, NY — The former district manager for Community Board 6, who resigned last year after being accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend, is now facing charges that he forged signatures of board members to give himself unauthorized pay raises.

Craig Hammerman, 53, was hit with a 17-count indictment on Monday for giving himself more than $38,000 in raises over a two year period by forging his manager's approval on documents, Brooklyn's District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced.

"This defendant gave himself multiple raises, including a merit increase, and falsified his manager’s authorization to get them approved by the City, according to the charges," Gonzalez said in a statement.

"New Yorkers expect — and deserve — public servants serving their communities with integrity that is beyond reproach. (The Department of Investigation) will continue to pursue those City workers criminally who take advantage of taxpayers and steal City funds."

Hammerman served as the district manager for Community Board 6, the only paid position in the advisory agency, for nearly 30 years and pulled in $121,931-a-year. He resigned from his post in October after being arrested twice for stalking his ex-girlfriend. CB6 covers Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus and Red Hook.

The stalking charges were dropped against Hammerman in November because the woman no longer wanted to pursue them and the window to prosecute them was closing, DNAinfo reported.

However, a month before he resigned, an internal investigation by the board found that Hammerman had forged the signature of board chairmen four times from May 2015 to October 2017 to get approved from raises by the Borough President's offices, prosecutors said. They turned over the case to the Department of Investigation.

He forged the signature of former Community Board Chairman Gary Reilly once and current chairman Sayar Lonial three times, authorities said. He got a total of $38,345 through the fraud the charges claim.

His lawyer, Joyce David, said that Hammerman never actually forged Reilly or Lonial's signatures, but used electronic versions of them he was authorized to use. She added it would be hard for him to get a raise without notice because city employees salaries are public record.

"[The accusations are] not accurate, there's no way they're going to be able to prove my client had fraudulent intent," David said. "There's no way to even surreptitiously get yourself a raise and have nobody know about it.

"This is a good guy who's gone through a lot and we're fighting the charges," David added.

Hammerman, of Fort Greene, was charged with forgery, criminal possession of a forged instrument, offering a false instrument for filing, falsifying business records and grand larceny at his Monday arraignment, the DA's office said. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.

He was released without bail and is due back in court on Aug. 8.

Image: Patch file photo